Team Rocket Goes Gaga
by pokemypoke
Summary: Collection of Rocketshipping one-shots set to the songs of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album. Warnings and additional pairings at beginning of chapters. HIATUS.
1. Marry the Night

**A/N: **So I have finally decided to go ahead and kick this collection off. It has haunted me for a month now and I just can't get enough of our favorite Rocketeers. Each chapter will be fashioned with songs from Lady Gaga's _Born This Way_ CD with eighteen chapters in all, but will follow no particular path except the one set out by the CD. For example, after _Marry the Night_, the night one shot will be titled and fashioned after _Born This Way_. I have placed this in the M category not because all of them will be rated M, but because some of them will, and I don't want to misled anyone. I'll try and remember to include the ratings with the title and when updating so things won't get too confusing. I'll also be adding up a list of the songs/fics and their prospective ratings so you can get a feel for what each one is about.

Every one shot will have Rocketshipping, but some will have Neoshipping and references to James/Jessiebelle. However, these will also be included with the ratings so you can avoid whichever ones don't suit your tastes. Big note: doubt that I will make any of these song fics. It's all personal…I just don't work well with them and want the story to speak the interpretation rather than sticking the words in mechanically. If this changes, however, it will be noted in the descriptions.

Lastly, the most important bit: I bow to the genius that is Pokemon and Gaga. I own nothing of either and never, ever could. I am simply a smitten fan that wishes to pay tribute to the things that make me feel warm inside.

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>Marry the Night

**Rating: **K

**Time/Generation:** AU

**Warnings: **Slight spoilers for "The Treasure is All Mine!"

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><p>She wiped her slender fingers against her pink skirt and sniffed. The smell of dust and rust assaulted her young nose. She managed out a small cough and a worried expression although her insides seemed to beg to burst out in one loud and lowly scream.<p>

"Mama, I don' like it heeyah!" said Jessiebelle, clutching her arms to her chest.

Her mother glared down at her with piercing blue eyes. "Jessieblle, love. Yah gotta give a little to get a little. Come now. We'll find a little girl round yah age that yah can give this present to. Daddy will be so proud of yah for giving to the less fortunate."

"But I don' like it! These young'uns are filthy and dirty and they'll spoil mah new dress!"

Ignoring her daughter, the woman scanned the room and crinkled her nose. "There must be _someone_…"

The pair made their way cautiously down the hallway of the orphanage looking into every room at the dingy beds and the mud-faced children staring at them with dull eyes. Jessiebelle longed for her beloved Oddish to be there and shield her eyes from the reality of the poor and the pitiful. She trailed her mother with small, tapping steps and nearly ran into her when the older woman stopped suddenly at the next to last room on the floor.

"Fireflies and steel magnolias…" she whispered, bringing one hand to her mouth and clutching the wooden doll the family had prepared for one lucky child in the other.

"What is it, mama?" Jessiebelle said curiously, eyeing the room and scuffing her feet against the floor. The room was home to a single little red-haired girl who lay on the bed looking at Jessiebelle with eyes that were hauntingly familiar. "Hey! She stole mah face! Mama! She's a thief!"

"Hush!" Her mother glared down at her before entering the room with her skirt swaying softly. "Why hello there, little one. What is yah name, dah?"

The little girl blinked her large blue eyes. "Jessie."

Jessiebelle huffed. "Thief."

Her mother shot her a warning glance before looking back to Jessie, who had curled herself further into a ball on the bed. "Would ya like a dolly, honey? She's brand new. Mah daughter Jessiebelle would just love fah yah to have her."

"No," said the child quickly, daring a glance at the fuming Jessiebelle.

"What if I leave her right heyah on yah bed like this?" Jessiebelle's mother set the doll on its bottom so that its smiling face stared up at her with wide, red lips. "She'll make sure yah have a good night's rest and play with yah all day long. Doesn't that sound nice, Jessie?"

"No," she repeated, looking at the doll as though it would burst into flames.

"There, there…yah poor dear…yah been through a lot, haven't yah, honey?" Jessiebelle's mother let a hand swipe the bed before sitting on it with a soft plop. "Yah're a lucky one, though. Remembah that. Yah got the prettiest little face and that'll always get yah places. Just like mah Jessiebelle. Yah two could pass for twins…gracious…I'm beginning to wonder mahself…"

"Mama! I wanna leave!" screamed Jessiebelle, stamping her foot loudly.

"Jessiebelle! That is not the way a proper young lady like yahself acts around the less fortunate!" Her mother's face was cold and mean and Jessiebelle began to hate the little girl on the bed who was receiving such love from such a hardened woman. Who was this rat to gather all her mother's love when she had done nothing but tried to please her since the day she was born?

Snapping footsteps made Jessiebelle turn to face her beloved nanny, who was panting and clutching her heavy chest.

"Madame Jezebelle! Master Joseph wishes to speak to you. He is awaiting your appearance outside at this very instance!"

Jezebelle narrowed her eyebrows and stood up immediately. "Of course, Lily. Thank yah."

Lily nodded and was off before Jessiebelle could speak and the little girl lowered her head in disappointment. She heard the sound of her mother loudly kissing the top of Jessie's head and turned to see her cupping the girl's stained cheeks with both hands.

"Stay safe here, Jessie. Perhaps…but no…Joseph would never allow it…but I hope yah do find a family that loves yah. Take care o' yahself an' yah new dolly. Goodbye now," she said, smiling a sincere smile before heading out the door and brushing past her daughter as though she were a board in the floor.

Jessiebelle opened her mouth and closed it, frowning and focusing all her rage on the girl staring at her with those same wide, wild eyes.

"Yah just think yah're the bee's knees, doncha? Well, yah aren't anything but a sewer rat. Look at yah. Yah look like yah're wearing a potato sack," she said with a huff.

Jessie responded by throwing a holey blanket over her head and planting her face into the bed.

"Oh no yah don't," said Jessiebelle, rushing into the bedroom and climbing onto the bed with determined hands. "Yah don' get to run away from me! Listen here!"

"No!" Jessie shouted, wriggling about as Jessiebelle struggled to wrench the blanket off of her. "Leave me alone!"

"Gimme back mah face!"

The blanket came off and Jessie's face popped out alarmed and afraid and allowing only the quickest of breathes to leave her mouth. "You already have a face! And it's ugly!"

Jessiebelle let out a shrill laugh. "Yah obviously can't afford a mirror."

"At least I can afford a personality!" Jessie shot back, crinkling her nose up and driving hard frown lines into her face.

Flinging her hair back and smiling sweetly, Jessiebelle leaned so that her weight became even on the bed. "Where I come from, yah wouldn't even have that. Yah don't know a thing about being a propah lady like I do. Yah'll probably grow up to work at tha' house with all the Xs on it. That's where all the bad girls end up."

"I don't care about being a proper lady," said Jessie. "I'm going to be a doctor and an actress and a…"

Again Jessiebelle laughed and again Jessie frowned. The hatred in the little girl's eyes would have stopped most people cold, but the prim and pampered Jessiebelle simply shook her head and watched her with eyes that provided no escape and seemed to stare right through Jessie and into the floor below them. Jessie attempted to look at anything and anywhere except those damning eyes and settled her attention on the two peridot earrings snapped onto either side of Jessiebelle's head. They were the most simple yet sophisticated things she had ever seen and envy clutched at her young heart.

"I see yah've noticed mah mama's earrings," said Jessiebelle with a slight smirk playing on her lips. "Yah wanna try em on?"

Jessie nodded hesitantly and was shocked to see the other girl take off the circular gems with quick and steady fingers. She turned her head to one side and then another to allow the studs to be placed in her ears, which had been rung with holes just months before her mother's disappearance. The earrings felt heavy and thick on her ears and when they were finally on, Jessie clamped her hands over them as if she were afraid they would disappear.

"Oh jump off yah grumpy high horse, missy. It's just me an' you an' no mama around to kiss yah and hug yah anymore so move yah hands! There…they almost look pretty on yah. Not as good as they do on _me_, though," Jessiebelle sniggered. Jessie blinked and the other girl sighed. "I've been forgotten again I suppose…she wouldn't forget me if I was you…hey…do yah wanna play a little game, Jessie?"

"No," said Jessie.

"Hmph. I figured yah say that. But too bad. We're playing."

Jessiebelle was nothing if not a determined child. Her dress was poofy and frilly and far too large on the girl whose nicest possession just happened to be a black hair bow she had snapped in half just that morning. The hair was a challenge without a maid, but Jessiebelle was determined. If she could make a fool out of this little nobody then her mother would come rushing back for her with open arms and bon bons aplenty. Jessie shrieked as Jessiebelle's fingers pulled tight and mean on her hair. She wouldn't last a day in her world. She'd be eaten alive.

With a confident huff and a less than hesitant pat down of her formless, stained smock, Jessiebelle smiled. "Lookie here, Jessie Jess. It's ah mirror. Take a gander at yahself."

"I know what a mirror is," Jessie said with a frown. Yanking the glass from the less than fashionable hands of her look-alike, she gazed into the face of a stranger and gasped at the sight. "I…I'm…"

"Bearable," offered Jessiebelle. There were wisps of hair jutting out from the top of Jessie's head and her cheeks were far too hollow, but on the whole, Jessiebelle was satisfied. "Now run outside…let's see how long yah can fool mama and papa. It'll be like you have a family. Almost."

Unsure and unsettled by Jessiebelle's words, Jessie took a few steps forward and reveled in the quiet comfort of shoes cushioning her swollen feet. She turned back only once to face those crackling eyes before taking off down the hallway on wobbly legs. Eyes surrounded her like flies and she had barely made it to the door when the voice of her headmistress cried out to her.

"Miss Jessiebelle! I was not aware you were still on the premises!" she cried, clamping her talon-like fingers around her upper arm. "We must return you to your parents at once!"

And with that, Jessie was carried out the door and into the streets where two limos sat and a couple stood deep in conversation. The little girl barely had time to register the chilling breeze or the racing of her heart before the couple turned and the once kind mother pulled her toward her by the neck of her jacket hard and fast. Something had changed in Jezebelle's eyes. Something had happened that tore all the kindness away and left a cold, dull look behind with only the faintest flicker of familiarity.

"A ball, Jessiebelle! A ball down the street and we've just been invited. Your daddy is so smart…so smart, dahling. Don't you evah forget that. We gotta act fast if we're gonna get there in time. Yah'll need a dress and shoes and perfume…oh we must hurry, Joseph!"

"Indeed. Nigel! Take Jezebelle and Jessiebelle where ever their hearts desire," said Joseph, clutching his hand to his blazing red vest.

A short, elderly man with beady eyes held the door opened and held his hand out to help Jezebelle inside. Tottering after the older woman, Jessie felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Joseph's piercing eyes. He looked her over and Jessie's heart filled with fear. The man sniffed.

"And clean up Jessiebelle. She's obviously forgotten her manners in that pig sty…nasty leeches…yah gonna have to shine like a pearl to catch yah a fine gentleman, Jessiebelle. And daddy has a good feeling about tonight."

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><p>It was a world she could not have made up in her wildest of dreams. Women floated along the ballroom floor like swans on a lake only in the most brilliant of blues and greens and yellows. She herself wore a loose dress the color of deep red wine that billowed out at every angle and left her feeling like a butterfly. Her hair was squeezed into locks and curls so tightly that the slightest turn of her head made her scared that her face would rip in half. Luckily for her, the shoes on her feet felt much better than Jessiebelle's black ones and she was able to shift into solitude on the furthest wall she could find from the humming crowds in comfort. Jezebelle had unwittingly assisted Jessie in her mission by purchasing the softest hand fan in the world. The small fan was adorned with Swanna feathers that were dyed a lavender only a few shades softer than the fan itself. When Jessie held the fan in front of her round face, she felt invisible and allowed herself a small sigh.<p>

Truth be told, she was enthralled by the statues and the drapes and the lights, but her stomach ached for the lavish banquet set out on the other side of the room. But she was loathe to leave her safe haven and merely watched the ladies peck at their treats from small platters and the men sip champagne with twittering whiskers. One of the whiskered man smiled at her kindly and she blushed and pressed her back flat against the tall wall behind her. This fine and fragile world was not her own…this could not last…this could not be.

"Jessiebelle!" a voice cried. Jessie nearly forgot to turn her head. Jessiebelle's mother was staring and glaring her down mere inches away. "The balcony…go there now. No questions."

She watched as the woman sway off into the madness that was the dance floor and Jessie began to move mechanically across the room. Eyes lowered to the floor, she made very little effort to hide her shaky movements and several guests harrumphed and huffed at her sudden, small presence pushing past them. She bit her lower lip behind her fan. It was only when she reached the opposite side of the ballroom and noted the many openings that fear entered her heart. She whipped her head about in a confused daze before shrugging slightly and heading straight through the nearest archway.

The night was beautiful and pure and so different from the balcony than it was through the broken windows of the orphanage. A beaming moon brimmed against the buildings in the distance and she wondered if somewhere – somewhere very, very far away – her mother was looking at the same moon. She wished more than anything that her mother could be with her now in such luxury, but not with such people. If only she could bring the people below up high and the people up high down low. If only she could bring the old days back. If only she could reconnect to life as a child and not as a woman trapped in the form of a faithless and filthy youth with dirt in her fingernails and fresh tears forming in her eyes.

Though Mozart wafted through the ballroom, it barely registered in Jessie's mind so that when a squeak came out of the night, she whirled about to face a wide-eyed and blue-haired boy dressed in the silliest outfit she had ever seen. He wore a tiny green handkerchief at his neck and the sight of it caused Jessie's hand to press the fan to her lips to stifle a giggle.

The boy was not amused, however. In fact, his face was rather blank except for a slight color in his cheeks and his shimmering green eyes. They reminded her of the earrings still dragging down the fatty skin of her ears.

"What's your name?" The boy's voice cracked and his tiny fingers curled into small fists at his side. He was cute in a funny sort of way and he made Jessie feel strangely confident to be posing as a member of high society.

"Jessie," she whispered. She would not remember until much, much later that night that she was still supposed to be Jessiebelle. Besides, she felt her skin prickling and her heart racing. She wanted to play. "Who are you?"

The boy lowered his head a little and shuffled further out onto the balcony. "I'm James."

"Hi, James," she said innocently.

"Hi, Jessie," he croaked, throwing a stray piece of hair out of his face with a shift of his head.

"What are you doing out here?" She was enjoying this…the blush on his cheeks and the shake in his knees and the whisper of the wind on her neck egging her on.

James swallowed hard before answering. "I…I just wanted to get away. This is the fifth ball I've been to in a week."

"Really?" Her fan dropped without her notice but the look in James's eyes descended to her lips and he smiled slightly.

"Yeah. What about you? Were you getting tired of the dancing too?"

She nodded mutely and he smiled at her. It was a broad and lopsided grin that made his face look a little off-center, but Jessie felt her stomach churn at the sight of it.

"Jessie…would you…uhh…" James brought a hand to the back of his head and closed his eyes tight. "Would you like to take a walk or something?"

"A walk? Where?" Her heart thumped in her chest so that she was sure he could see it.

James thought for a moment before his eyes brightened. "There's a fountain nearby that's gorgeous this time of night! So…will you walk with me?"

Blinking and bringing her hand fan to her back, Jessie nodded. "I'd like that."

James's smile was brighter than the moon and he came close enough to grab her hand with sweaty palms and pull her behind him. "Come on! Maybe Growlie will be waiting on me…you'll love him!"

The hand fan fell onto the tile on the balcony with a sharp ping that neither youth noticed. James's parents watched the two sprint through the crowd and down the stairs toward the lobby with gleeful grins and small nods to Jessiebelle's mother. Jezebelle pursed her lips and gave a sideways look to her husband.

"Dear?" she said, placing a porcelain-looking hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, love?"

"The propah way of runnin' fah ah lady…she holds her skirts up ever so slightly, does she not?"

"Indeed she…" Joseph's head whipped around. "Do you mean to say that our daughter..."

Jezebelle shook her head slowly. The light had returned to her eyes and her lips upturned in a delicate smirk. "No. Not _our_ daughter. But someone else's pahaps. But Joseph, dear, I do bahlieve that we gotta make a quick stop bahfore we head home for the evening."

In the softest wind under the moonlight on a street bathed with the reflection of the rushing water of a rusted fountain, a little boy and a little girl stood hand-in-hand with nearly identical smiles plastered on their faces. It was in that middle ground that the night found solace and allowed itself to quiet its cries and cold winds. The children laughed in their self-made world on a road called the Middle Way. It was long and wide, both low and high, and it carried their hearts away.


	2. Born This Way

I'm not gonna lie…I'm not totally pleased with the finished product. I have gone through so many different plots for this one-shot, and this is truthfully the only one that really felt right. It won't match it like the rest of this collection…but I kind of like it that way, seeing as it's fitting for the song. Plus, I can get to the next two tracks that I've been dying to get to. _Government Hooker _and _Judas _will both be rated M with _Hair_ going back to K. I'm 90% sure this is the only fic that will deal with the Rockets during marriage and especially with kids.

And, if it makes a difference, I've had a multi-chaptered fic in mind with the children of the Rockets that I just sorta gave up on. I work far better with one-shots and find myself enjoying the idea of seeing James and Jessie interacting with one another rather than with Jackson and Jazz and whatnot. But it's here as a look into their future, for whatever it is worth.

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>Born This Way

**Rating: **T

**Time/Generation: **Post-Team Rocket, AU

**Warnings: **Spoiler/Giggle at the very end for _New Plot, Odd Lot!_ I love Harley. XD

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><p>The moment had come. James's fingers clenched the rough material of his slacks as he tried to even his breathing. The boy beside him stiffened as if aware of oncoming onslaught of questions. People passed them from every angle and made James thankful for the small islands of benches the mall afforded to the husbands during the infamous Princess Day. At that moment, however, he would have fought with the biggest and bustiest woman over a dress off the clearance rack rather than to cross this line.<p>

"Jackson," he said, surprised at the calm in his voice. "Why did Ford punch you?"

The boy's head turned to reveal an eye quite bruised and quite buried under layers of his sister's makeup. His lavender hair was curlier than it usually was due to the fact that the family had all awaken at some ungodly hour James hadn't even been aware existed. Even with a head start, they had fallen behind and the men had been banished by their female counterparts after failing to successfully hide some genuine perfume by Erika herself from a pack of wild women aching to smell like Bellossom. He was almost grateful for it. It made the sharp looks at Jackson's swollen eye less common.

"Because he's Ford," Jackson stated simply.

"Son…if something is going on, you know you can tell me. I know you and your mom are closer, but…I just get this feeling that this is something you don't want to discuss with her."

Blushing, Jackson ducked his head. "I'm okay, Dad. Really."

James allowed a small smile to appear on his lips. "It's more your sister I'm worried about. If she gets her hands on that boy, I might have to head down to the jailhouse. And while I don't mind bailing either of you out of trouble, I think your mother might be displeased at the thought of losing a bit of weight in her purse strings."

With a snort, the boy shook his head. "Nah…I made Jazz promise to lay off of him. She won't do anything."

It was as if sirens were whirling in James's head. It still amazed him how his and Jessie's personalities had settled out among their children. His son was a determined youth with a strong sense of self and a constant fire burning in his eyes. Jackson was not as cruel as his mother, but he was far more logical and patient than James had ever known Jessie to be. He was serious and just a tad bit arrogant to those who did not know him and was standoffish in a cold yet controlled way that always made him a mystery to everyone around him, including his father.

And then there was Jazz. James brought his eyes up to search the crowd and settled when they found a kitten-sized Purrloin nestled atop a bed of lavender hair. The hair was long and curled, though not by nature's design. She was flipping through a rack with all the enthusiasm of a Slowpoke with occasional glances towards the back of the store. Even without opening her mouth, she screamed eccentricity and a lack of elegance. Whereas her brother was cold, however, she was warm and vibrant. She had always been a happy child, if not one eager to please, and her face soon broke out into a small giggle that cut through the hum of the crowd.

His daughter quickly shuffled over to the nearest counter and climbed on top of it to search the benches with laughing eyes. When she spotted her father, she burst into a broad grin and held a deep green sweater above her head, much to the dismay of her Purrloin. It had to be the biggest abomination in the fashion world. It was decorated with buttons in yellows and reds and oranges from neck to the hem and the sight of it had both men stifling their laughter. She mouthed something and James saw Jackson give her a thumbs-up before she hopped off the table and disappeared back into the store.

They had been together every moment of their lives. The weight of the situation settled on his chest dark and thick.

"Jackson. I know I'm not the best at this whole father thing. But I want to be here for you…for all of us. Your mother and I never really had the best families growing up, and it's really important that you and Jazz know how much you mean to us."

Blinking as if stunned, his son nodded mutely. James sighed. It was back to bartering with that fat cat to give some of "UncUnc's" advice. He was faintly sure Meowth had followed Liepard somewhere in the fray where Jessie and Butch's daughter Bonnie had gone off to. He had first seen Butch and Clyde heading out for a father-son luncheon as the perfect opportunity to bond with Jackson, but now that the words were spoken and the subject was off the table, he felt completely lost and helpless. He was so busy staring at the tile and willing it to provide him with the perfect fatherly advice that he missed Jackson's slight squirming.

"Dad…when did you know…" The sentence stopped. Jackson swallowed.

"Know what, Jack?"

He almost thought the boy wouldn't continue. Shifting to face him, James leaned forward. Jackson bit his lower lip. "When did you know that you loved Mom?"

Oh Arceus on a boogie board. Girl trouble. He was screwed. "Well…I always knew that I loved her…just not in a romantic sense. We were teammates long before we were…err…lovers. We spent so many years together and when our Rocket careers were over, I couldn't imagine myself being with anyone else but her. It wasn't the greatest feeling on earth…she was a lot of woman for me to handle."

"But you just knew, right? It wasn't like you could change how you felt," said Jackson, shaking his head to rid his eyes from the two strands of hair pestering his face. "No one could tell you that it wasn't right."

"They certainly tried," he replied, frowning at the thought of his parents. "Love is about accepting someone faults and all…but people are always going to pass judgment no matter what. It isn't entirely their fault…at least not all the time. Some people are just set in their ways and some of them just feel like they're doing the best thing for you."

Jackson mulled over his words before frowning. "And what do you think the best thing for me is?"

"I can't answer that for you, Jackson. I don't know. This is your life to live, not mine. I already made my choices a long time ago. I just want you and Jazz to be happy and fulfilled in whatever you choose to do."

"Wow," said Jackson, smirking. There was something about his lips that was undeniably Jessielike although they were thin and pale and stretched across his face with less grace than his mother's. "That almost made you sound mature, Dad."

James let his face fall as if offended. "And whatever gave you the idea that I was immature?"

"You threw the remote at the television last night because a movie didn't end the way you wanted it to."

"Are you kidding me? I was just angry they left out some parts…"

"Like what? It was a documentary, Dad. A _documentary_. I doubt the Frontier Brains have much to hide…they're known throughout the regions for what they do. And so what if he beat Team Rocket a couple of times? Big whoop. We're all still kicking. Besides," he said with a shuffle of his feet. "I think Ash is pretty cool."

_You wouldn't think that if it was you on the other side of Pikachu's Thunderbolt_, James thought bitterly. "I want to get back to your questions…where is all this coming from, Jackson?"

Jackson sighed. "I don't know."

"Is it a girl?"

The boy ducked his head again and James could swear there was redness on his cheeks. "I don't know."

James frowned. He felt shut out and shut down and more than just a little bit rejected. "We don't have to talk about it. Come on…let's see how many credit cards your mother has maxed out. I bet you a sundae that it's over five."

His efforts were rewarded with a small smile. "You're on."

They found Jazz far before Jessie, though this was not much of an accomplishment considering the girl was flaunting her new sweater and a pair of khakis to some giggling girls around the age of six. The Purrloin was still sitting happily upon her head and watching the children with interest.

"You look really silly, lady!" the youngest one cried.

"Are you kidding? This is the hottest thing back in Unova!" She struck a pose and the blaring lights from the store reflected off the gaudy buttons like a thousand little stars. "I had to fight off thirty Amazon princesses just to squeeze by with this beauty. I got a hottie back home promising me diamonds and pearls if I show up wearing this little number tonight."

"What!" cried James, gripping both sides of his head with trembling fingers. Jackson burst into laughter.

"Dad…she's _joking_," he said, patting his arm comfortingly.

"Oh…I…I knew that." He rubbed his hair where his furious fingers had pulled out several strands of blue hair.

Before Jazz could turn around to greet them, an older woman approached her with a wide grin.

"I hope my girls weren't a bother, miss. I sure do appreciate you looking after them while I looked around…this store can get so crazy!" James supposed she meant to cast a hand toward the store in mention but the movement was weak underneath the mountain of clothes she held propped beneath her chin.

"She's really funny, mama! Is she coming with us to the next store?" said the youngest girl.

Jazz smiled and James felt his heart drop. He knew that look anywhere – especially plastered on a woman's face. It was the same look he had seen nearly sixteen years earlier when Jessie was holding Bonnie in her arms for the first time. It was a look of wanting and one he had never expected to find on his bubbly, bumbling daughter's face.

"I'm afraid I gotta go with these two bad men over here." Jazz motioned over to James and Jackson with a flick of her wrist. "They're the fashion police and they're here to arrest me."

The children chittered and clambered to Jazz's legs with tiny protests and their mother laughed. "You truly are a funny young woman…but a kind one. Did I hear you mention something about Pokemon Paradise to your mother?"

"Yeah," said Jazz, suddenly losing some of her cheery demeanor. "Right before she told me it would be our last stop…if she wasn't too busy…and if I bought at least one dress…and if she could find a fourth credit card."

James cursed and Jackson laughed.

"She just wants to bring out the beautiful woman in you. You'll get along better. I just know it. Here…reach in my back pocket. My girlfriend couldn't be here today and she handed me a fistful of coupons. I remember seeing something about Pokemon Paradise on one of them. I don't really have a use for the store seeing as I don't enter contests or anything and my Pokemon can't stand being put in outfits."

Regaining some cheer, Jazz pulled out a wad of coupons and immediately grinned. "Wow! How lucky can I get? Buy one and get one free on slippers…and they have zebra print! Liepard is just going to love them, isn't she, Purrl?"

"Purrrrrr!" The Purrloin snuggled and purred against her trainer's head.

"Thank you so much!" Jazz cried, smiling at each of the little girls in turn before twirling around to head toward the exit.

"Jazz! Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?" Jackson screamed, quickly becoming overwhelmed with the passing hordes of girls.

"Oh yeah!" She ran back to the table she'd been standing on and quickly grabbed all the free donuts she could carry in one hand. "Thanks, bro!"

"I MEANT US, JAZZ!"

They had completely lost her by the time they managed to make it back to the haven of benches. James hung his head in defeat. Their beloved bench was now home to a man five times the size of James and Jackson put together and the father and son drug themselves down the strip in search for a well-worn place to sit and ignore the droves of giggles and gyrating hips. It was a long haul, but they both settled down with sighs and grateful smiles.

"Thank Mew!" James exclaimed, watching the crowd. "I thought we'd be out there forever!"

Jackson smiled and all the uneasiness of their prior conversation returned.

"So it looks like I owe you a sundae. Wanna go now or wait on the girls?"

Brightening, Jackson turned towards his father. "Let's wait on Mom and Jazz…and maybe Clyde too."

"Clyde?" James thought for a minute before nodding. "That's a great idea. And maybe you can call up Robbie and invite him too. I haven't seen him around the house in a while and…" Jackson trembled beside him. "Is something wrong?"

"Robbie is out of town."

"But I thought he was going with us tomorrow to the contest," said James. The boy turned his head away in silent disgust and he frowned. "He has something to do with what happened with Ford."

Jackson laughed without mirth and shook his head without conviction. "Robbie ruined everything."

Had he any fatherly instincts, James was certain that they would have told him to say something – _anything_ – but he felt as though his mouth would fail him and he sat in silence staring at his feet. It seemed as if his attempts to grow closer to him were only serving to drive them further apart. And while he knew it was terribly wrong of him to be jealous of his own wife of her relationship with their son, he could not help but feel shut out. Maybe it was best to just accept things the way that they were. Maybe he was busy worrying over the little things when all the things that had seemed to matter at twenty had now gifted him with a family that loved and supported him no matter what. Maybe he should just look forward to the day a year from now when the children were finally old enough to join Team Rocket and he and Jessie could enjoy each other at their leisure without fear of scarring one of the twins for life.

He felt Jackson shake and shift beside him. He waited. "Dad…"

"Yeah?"

Jackson rubbed his lips lightly with the side of his left hand. "Robbie told Ford."

It was as if the entire population of the shoppers disappeared and all he could hear was his own breathing. "What did he tell him, Jackson?"

A lifetime of silence seemed to follow before Jackson raised his head. His eyes were the color of water but the flame behind them was unmistakable. The look could have stopped a train.

"He told him I was gay."

James blinked again and again. "Why would he say something like that?"

He drew his lower lip in and shrugged. "Because it's true."

Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn't been this. He knit his brow and found his mind utterly blank. "But…how do you…"

"It was Ford. I wanted to be with Ford. I can't tell you why…it just sort of came out of nowhere one day when we were battling. I tried to ignore it. I really, really did, Dad. But the more I tried to tell myself that it was wrong, the more it stayed on my mind. I didn't even tell Robbie…I didn't really tell anyone but Jazz…but I must have been obvious…he found out and he swore he would never tell anybody."

"Let me guess," said James, with a frown, "he lied."

Jackson shook with fury. "He said it just came out…he really said that, Dad. He was my best friend and he's made my life hell."

He wasn't aware of his arms reaching out or of grabbing his son, but James found himself hugging the boy to his chest right there in the middle of the mall and the mumbling bystanders. Feeling more than hearing the choked sob Jackson tried to push back down his throat, James ran his hand through the boy's short hair. The thought of his son in pain blocked out every other thought and he squeezed his arms tight as if afraid the boy would disappear.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, Dad," said Jackson, sniffling. James pulled back and felt the salty tears burn at his eyes.

"Sorry? Son, there is absolutely nothing for you to be sorry about."

The boy shook his head wildly. "I'm not supposed to feel this way…Mom is going to hate me."

Disbelief clouded James's features. "Jackson…we could never hate you. We love you and we're going to love whatever boy is lucky enough to be brought to our home. If you're happy, we're happy."

It was as if the weight of the world had been taken off his young shoulders. His upper body came against the back of the bench and his head perked up ever so slightly. "Really?"

"Really. We're here for you…all of us," said James with a sideways grin.

A genuine laugh fell from the youth's lips. "I kind of knew that…when Jazz found out she went right up to Robbie. I've been dying to tell Mom that she doesn't have to worry about her not being like her…I was _terrified_. She actually stood there and told him that she would kick him in the throat if he blinked in my direction."

They shared a laugh that was cut short only when James fell silent a few moments later. Jackson raised an eyebrow and his father stared at him hard.

"So who took your last snacky?"


	3. Government Hooker

Oh my god. I'm pretty sure this fic will render me legally retarded in 48 states. I always knew it would be long-winded, but Ash on an airplane, it just wouldn't stop. And the ending feels odd, but strange to say, I actually had that planned out way before the rest of the stuff started happening.

On a related note, I'm an idiot. I last mentioned _Hair _as coming after _Judas_, which is definitely not the case. I wasn't that into _Hair_ when I first heard it and found myself playing _Americano _to death until I lightened up to the former. That's honestly the only explanation I got. So I'm now playing with the idea of moving _Hair_'s rating up and making _Americano _K. I'll just see if this lemon gets me thrown out of the Pokemon community and then go from there.

I still don't own Pokemon. If I did, this kind of fic would be an episode and psychologists would have ever so much more money evaluating the poor children that happened to stay up really late and spot Pokemon on the naughty channel.

* * *

><p><strong>Title: <strong>Government Hooker

**Rating:** M

**Time/Generation: **Not specified.

**Warnings: **High sexual content. Neoshipping.

* * *

><p>It was times like these that made James wonder why he put up with Jessie. In truth, it was a suicide mission. He knew all her thoughts and all her fears and all her nasty words. What he couldn't figure out was how she managed to make such an elegantly carved face scrunch into lines of fury and distaste.<p>

"I hate her. I'll hate her 'til I die," Jessie spat, throwing a deadly glare at the side of the tent.

"Maybe they didn't know we were already camping here," said James. He whimpered at the look of pure hatred he was awarded with but was somewhat glad when Jessie resumed her heated glances toward their innocent tent.

"She knew. She did it on purpose. And now she's making all types of noise just to keep me from my beauty sleep!"

In Jessie's defense, Cassidy and Beethoven _were _making quite a bit of noise for such a late hour. It all started at dinner time when the Rockets happened to come crawling out of their respective tents for a decent meal. Cassidy had taken one look at Jessie before bursting into laughter and twisting her way about her camp sloshing dirt with her heels and clashing pans together that she later discarded for a bowl of food Buff had brought out fully prepared. Then it was the training with that screeching Raticate and exercises using tree limbs and full-fledged conversations carried out between the pair while they took turns bathing in a small creek a few feet away from their rest stop. And every single noise – every single breath – seemed to nip at Jessie's nerves until she was a screaming mess. James had been a little bit impressed, especially when Clutch managed to ignore the redhead after slapping him square in the face. It was only when she had wrapped her fingers around the man's throat that he looked into her eyes rather than through her and squeezed out pleas for mercy.

That had been an hour ago. Now that they were snugly in their sleeping bags, Cassidy was talking again. James couldn't make out her words at all and guessed from the way that Jessie scooted sideways that her case was the same. Meowth rolled on his back between the humans and let out a loud laugh.

"Well ya betta get ta shuttin' er up, Jess! I'd hate tah think what ya look like wid out no sleep."

As James expected, Jessie's mallet swung sweet and true and Meowth went hurtling through the tent flaps with a small cry. The cat had barely made his way inside with his claws outstretched when Cassidy's voice made a noticeable shift and the three teammates went still. It was a shrill, squeaky type of noise that seemed to have no beginning and no end.

James pouted. "I can't sleep like this!"

"No one can!" Jessie shouted. "Meowth! Go tell Blondie to keep it down over there."

Humphing, Meowth made his way back to his spot between the two sleeping bags. "Meowth ain't got no problems wid it. I've slept through a lot worse. Gud'night!"

Whether it was real or fake James would never know, but Meowth began to snore just as Jessie jumped to her feet. And then her brilliant blue eyes went to him.

"James. Go tell them to put a cork in it."

His mouth fell open like a Magikarp's. "But, Jessie!"

"No buts! I'm getting some sleep whether I have to strangle Cassidy or not. I'm being mature about this and sending you over as a fair warning. You should be proud of me," she added, flicking her loose hair from her face. James groaned.

"But I don't wanna," he whined.

Her mallet suddenly wasn't so funny anymore. He rose to his feet and wrapped his arms about his chest with his lower lip jutted out and a pathetic look to his partner. She gave him an unsympathetic shooing motion with her hand and he made his way out of the tent and into the dark with hunched shoulders.

Mentally preparing himself for the teasing he was sure to endure at the hands of Brian and Cassidy, James tiptoed toward their tent. The small shelter was cream colored and glowing slightly with a warm light that was flickering with shadows and Cassidy's moans. At that moment, he couldn't be sure which woman would be worse to deal with. Jessie was already grumpy without a lack of sleep to push her madness into full throttle, but Cassidy was obviously in some type of pain. Certainly they wanted sleep just as badly as he and Jessie did. He thought about turning back but resisted at the memory of the mallet with a tremble. Nothing Cassidy could do would ever compare. With his decision made, he drew close to the tent where a strange scent began to waft about him. It was musky and strong and James ran his hand over his nose before carefully pulling the tent flap back.

"Hey, guys. You think you could lighten up on the…"

Biff's green hair. It was a brilliant color against the glow of the lantern and shiny and hosting Cassidy's curling fingers. But the horrors only continued. Biff had buried his face between Cassidy's thighs with one hand flat on her stomach and the other rubbing the noticeable bulge in his pants. Such a sight was enough to scar poor James for life, but he would barely recollect the man later. What he would never be able to forget was the sight of Jessie's blonde rival twisting her head to and fro on the ground and clutching a bare breast with her free hand. Her dress had been completely pushed up onto her chest and the material was bunched and thick where the palm of her hand worked at her dusky nipple. Her hair was down and clung to her face from every angle and James stood there desperately trying to force sense into the senseless situation.

"Oh, _Butch_," Cassidy hissed, pulling her partner's hair and opening her eyes with a smirk. James shifted slowly backward completely intent upon running for the hills and in a moment the lusty purple eyes were on him wide and wild.

Her hand went tight on her lover's head and before James knew what to do the girl was screaming bloody murder. The words 'pervert' and 'humiliated' and 'dead' were thrown before Butch raised his head and looked about before turning and catching sight of the frozen James. The shimmering blonde curls he had been worshipping peered at James and the blue-haired man willed his legs to move with no reaction. Luckily for everyone involved, Butch was clearheaded and took no time in hastily pulling his partner's dress back over her body to shield her from their intruder's view.

"Get. Out. Now," Butch commanded.

"Uhhh…uhhh…" James shook. He searched for something – _anything_ – to say and found himself completely distracted by Butch. He nearly choked. "You got a little…on your face…"

Butch's expression did not change as he took one hand and wiped Cassidy's juices from his lips. "What the _hell _do you want?"

"Who cares?" Cassidy screamed, blushing furiously. "Get him out of here, Butch! Get him _out_!"

Watching Butch rise from the floor and squaring his broad shoulders, James panicked. "Please! Jessie just wanted you to be quiet!"

"Jessie?" Cassidy sneered, getting onto her feet and placing a hand on Butch's back. "I should have known she was behind this. You're both so pathetic. I hope you enjoyed spying, because it's going to be the last thing you ever see."

He spotted Butch's hand sliding to a Pokeball and bit into his lower lip. "We'll just…we'll just deal with the noise…I didn't mean to interrupt…interrupt whatever you two were doing."

Butch smirked slightly. "Whatever we were doing? What's the matter, Lames? Jessie so stuffed up that the only pussy she lets you see is that miserable Meowth of yours?"

James's mouth flew open in protest but Cassidy's wild laughter cut through the air like a knife. "Ohhhh…Butch, darling, he's _blushing_. I knew Jessie was a stiff, but wow…we must have put on quite a show for little James here."

"That's not true!" James cried. "We do stuff like that all the time!"

"Liar," said Butch. He was clearly enjoying the situation a little too much and James's face flushed.

"Jessie is way better in bed than you could ever hope to be!"

"Been watching her screw it with other guys, James? Arceus…I'm sorry. And here I thought you always had this thing for her…" Cassidy waited and willed James to crumble. She received her wish. His eyes developed a bit of a flame behind them and his hands curled into fists. "Aww, Butch. This is as close as our James here is going to get to a woman. Just think…_I'm_ his first experience. I might take a moment to go rub that in Jessie's face now."

His heart burned to tell her that Jessie's body was no secret to him. While he hadn't been honest earlier in claiming to have made love with her, he had enjoyed the sight of her bulging breasts and the crease between her thighs numerous times during their journeys. They changed into and out of their disguises together and often slept in the same bed where the nights could grow hot and their clothes could fall off without the slightest bit of shame. He could still recall the first night that she had stripped in front of him when they were barely five months out of training. Ever the gentleman, James had attempted to look anywhere but at the body of his partner before she told him in a firm yet flirty voice that he would burn to death if he didn't follow her lead. If he had a bottle cap for every time he had pleased himself privately over the memory of them laying there in their bed at headquarters just staring into one another's eyes in the dead of the night with their limbs tangled and tainted with sweat from the heat, he would be a happy man indeed.

But he would not share their secret world with Cassidy. He would not expose the love that had developed so slowly yet so surely in his heart. Not until Jessie was completely ready. Not until everything was right.

"I'm telling you…we…we do it…we do it a lot…"

Something about the way Butch was standing alerted James to the event that was about to change his life forever. A twitch of a smile ghosted the green-haired man's face and he took one look at Cassidy before returning his gaze to James. "If what you say is true, then you shouldn't have a problem playing with us for a little while."

"Playing?" James took a step back. The glint in Butch's eyes was eerie and eager.

"I'll make you a deal…just because I think you're bluffing. Go back to your tent and give Jessie the ride of her life. Cassidy and I will pick up where we left off. And whoever gets their girl to scream the loudest gets full credit for the heist we're gonna pull tomorrow."

"Butch! No one was supposed to know about that!" Cassidy growled.

He swatted her nasty looks away with a sinister grin. "Come on, Cass. You know James here ain't gettin' anything but his right hand tonight. And when we don't hear a peep, we get to tell everyone back at headquarters how _desperate_ poor James here is for a good wank _and_ we get a nice promotion from the boss for the heist. We'll have them laughed out of Team Rocket!"

It was as if James wasn't even in the room anymore. Cassidy thought for a moment before grinning from ear to ear. "It's brilliant! I could kiss you."

"When Goldilocks leaves, you can do whatever you want as long as I get a nice slew of words from those pretty lips of yours," said Butch. Cassidy made a small noise of pleasure and wrapped her arms about him.

Every bone burning in his body, James's face stiffened. "Fine! You think I'm joking? You just wait!"

He left before he heard another word but could not escape the sound of the dastardly duo laughing. He stomped all the way back to his tent where Jessie was admiring herself in a small handheld mirror. Terror took over him. What in the name of Mew had he done? He considered just letting the wild Pokemon have at him in the middle of the forest somewhere. He considered it too late.

"Well?" said Jessie, inspecting her hair carefully and pursing her lips at the sight of one that was tinged only slightly gray.

"There's going to be a bit more noise tonight," he said, tensing suddenly.

A red eyebrow lifted skeptically as if surprised that he had disobeyed her orders. "Excuse me?"

Gulping, James fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "Well…you see…they umm…"

'They' were at it again. Before Jessie could even snap at him to make more sense, Cassidy voice could be heard crystal clear crying her partner's name as if he were God Himself. James blinked silently and Jessie tilted her head in the direction of the noise.

"It almost sounds like they're…James…what were they doing when you went in there?"

He closed his eyes tight until stars appeared. "Playing Twister."

She paused, contemplating the phrase and him with the same curious gaze. "And when you say they were playing Twister…you walked in on them having at it, didn't you?"

He nodded and turned his mouth inward in a look of disgust. Unbidden, images flashed in his mind of Cassidy's nipple peaking at him beneath her hand. When he opened his eyes to will his mind back into order, he noticed Jessie was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips and a determined gleam in her eyes.

"And? Am I just supposed to put up with this?"

"I…you see…Bobby kind of…"

"Bobby? You mean Boxer?"

"Oh yeah. Him. He uhh...dared me." He could go no further than this. The more Cassidy cried, the more his mind seemed to betray him. Only now the images that he could not shake were not those of the buxom blonde but of his beloved Jessie on that heavy August night when she was splayed in front of him with her eyes lidded with sleep and the single sheet they shared clinging to her breasts like a second skin. His blood began to rise and his reasoning skills began to fade.

Jessie, however, was having none of it. "Dared you? To what? What did he dare you to do?"

Though their tent was not massive by any stretch of the imagination, it had never seemed as small as it did now. James felt as though he and Jessie were far too close and yet far too apart all at the same time and the thought made his head hurt. He tried to think up every single reaction Jessie was likely to take…slapping him…kissing him…slapping him _then _kissing him. Nothing was definite…nothing except for them.

"To make you scream."

Jessie did not slap him or kiss him or even blink at him. It was as if he had just told her what the weather was like outside. "And?"

He found himself lifting his head although he could not recall ever lowering it. It must have been second nature to him now…the want to please her. He shook his head, completely lost.

"Do you want to?"

Did he want to? Did he need to breathe? "Jessie…I want to…but…"

"But?" Jessie flinched, giving an irritated look toward the still-screaming, still-invisible Cassidy.

"I don't want it to happen like this…not because of some dare…not out here in the woods on a sleeping bag. You deserve more than that."

He had never seen her eyes look like this…so soft and so sincere…it felt as though he was looking into her very soul. Her mouth made the funniest movements and seemed to smile one minute and grimace the next. "And where do you suppose we should do it then?"

_On my bed back at home with the doors locked and the curtains drawn and my family a thousand miles away. On blue sheets just the color of your eyes…I want to make new memories there. Ones that don't hurt and don't need healing. Ones that are just you_.

"I don't know," he said softly. "But he said if we didn't…"

Jessie shook her head to cut him off and he was a bit sad to find that the look had been erased from her eyes so that her fiery disposition shone through once more. "I don't care what he said. Take Meowth outside."

"Outside? What?"

"Just do what I tell you!"

He obeyed. How could he not? Meowth did not offer a fight as James set him beside one of the logs surrounding the campfire and dragged a small blanket over his body. In fact, the cat seemed to smile and the sight made James feel happy inside. Maybe, just maybe, he could be secure about whatever it was that was coming next.

Entering the tent, James eyed Jessie nervously. Her hair was up in a messy bun on the top of her head and her fingers were fiddling with the top button of her pink pajamas. She greeted him with searching eyes.

"What can we do?"

"Pardon?"

"What can we do together so that we're still innocent enough to do more later and still stick it to Boxer and Cassidy?"

"I…what?"

She shook her head, annoyed. "James. Stay with me. They've already got a head start. If we don't do something soon, they'll think we're not in. So come over here…I want to try something."

_I want to try something_. It was the single most erotic line he had ever heard her say although he wasn't quite sure why that should be. He came toward her with easy strides and stopped mere centimeters from her. That look was back in her eyes again…the vulnerable one…and James had the strongest urge to ask her what it meant before he saw her head tilt and her hands settle on either side of his face. It was as if a typhoon had stirred off the coast of his heart.

He leaned forward and that was that. His first kiss. He had always known somehow that it would be with Jessie, but what he had never assumed was the gentleness that would go into it. While passionate lip-locks made for amazing material while pleasing himself, he felt his heart ache at the feeling of her lips rubbing gently against his own. Every love poem he had ever studied as a boy came back with a force but roses and cream and heaven itself did not seem to accurately describe Jessie's lips. They seemed to be fashioned from the purest substance in all the world and he soon found himself lost in them. He kissed her back gently yet eagerly and gasped at his own forwardness when he felt his hands clutching the material of her shirt covering her hips. Jessie's fingers slid from his cheeks to softly massage the tips of his ears before disappearing into his hair.

When they broke apart for air, he whimpered and brought his mouth towards her longingly. She pulled away and he felt her hand rub his scalp consolingly. "Ssh. We'll have plenty of time for that. Right now we need to get these pesky clothes off. I can't do much screaming if I'm kissing you."

"But…"

She smiled. "We're going to show Boxer who the real lover around here is. Come here. Kiss my neck."

He trembled with excitement and softly placed one hand on the back of her head before running his lips along her jawline. Romance movies flitted throughout his mind and he desperately tried to cling onto certain scenes to lead him on his mission to pleasure Jessie. He was finally rewarded with a small moan when he lightly nipped at the skin on the side of her neck while running his free hand along the other side to enjoy the feel of her skin sans the gloves he usually wore.

"My shirt…unbutton it."

A tight coil of pressure developed just above his groin and his fingers came together to feed the top button back through the hole gently. The buttons were all white and he managed to do a great job of concentrating on them as he made his way down her shirt. It wasn't until his fingers met on the very last button that he allowed himself a glance upward to the beautiful amount of cleavage on display. Her breasts weren't ridiculously large but he supposed they were enough to make the blush on his cheeks pardonable. He made a face at the lacy black bra propping her breasts into two luscious mounds.

"Doesn't that hurt to sleep in?"

"What? The bra?" He nodded and she shrugged slightly. "You get used to it, I suppose. You gonna ask questions or are you gonna take the darn thing off already?"

He answered by sliding the shirt from her shoulders and taking in her creamy skin with hungry eyes. Reaching toward her back, James placed his chin upon the empty curve of her shoulder. The clasps were not much of a challenge for him as padded bras had been a part of his disguises before and he let his fingers rub her back at the exact place he had just freed from confinement. Only the thought of the challenge pushed him back. Jessie was not so patient.

"Oh, Jessie," he whispered, taking in the sight of her breasts and feeling his pajama bottoms grow tighter. "You're so beautiful."

"I know," she said cheekily. He smiled at her and the pretty blush that was developing on her cheeks.

This time he needed no introductions. His hands, though hesitant, gently kneaded the skin on Jessie's sides before crawling up to her straining breasts. All he could think about was how much the skin felt like her lips and he silently apologized before leaning in to capture her unsuspecting lips once more. She made forceful attempts to push him backwards but seemed to calm when he brought his erection rubbing against her thighs. He broke away and muttered what was supposedly an apology before letting out a breathy moan. Feeling her body wriggling from his grasp, he looked up and felt his heart do a backflip at the sight of a disheveled Jessie licking her lips.

"I want to lie down. Take your clothes off." Had they been in any other situation, James would have been sure that she hated him by the coarseness in her voice. As things were, he could not blame her. The need between his legs was weakening his resolve to wait for marriage or his home or even a decent bed. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his entire life and the whole situation was making his mind fuzzy on the most amazing high. He undid the buttons on his shirt as if in a dream and did not feel Jessie's fingers pushing his own away until he heard the unmistakable sound of the buttons ripping and clinking to the ground.

Cassidy, who had been gifting the couples with throaty moans throughout their travels, went silent. Boxer coughed. "_Shit_."

He saw Jessie's face lighten and her voice become loud and husky. "Come get me, big boy."

James would know the sound of a slap anywhere. Boxer whimpered loudly and Cassidy let out what he assumed to be a growl. "Sit your ass down there and don't move until I tell you to! You got that, bitch?"

"The name is Butch!" cried Boxer.

Boxer or Butch or Bitch could be heard umphing and James felt Jessie slide the shirt from his small frame. "I know what your mama named you, but you're _my _bitch."

"Oh my," said James, barely aware of the nails scraping his hips and curling around his waistband.

"James," Jessie cooed, bringing his attention back to her. Her eyes were brimming with lust and with an emotion that he could only pray was real. She gave him a sweet smile before deftly pushing his pajama bottoms down and brushing her warm hand against his arousal.

"Gghn." The look of utter dominance on Jessie's face as she regarded him nearly brought him to his knees.

Biting her lower lip, Jessie looked up at him with an almost childish grin. "You shave?"

James felt himself falter and fidget. "I…uh…sometimes…"

The look of reproach never came. In fact, Jessie leaned her head unto the bare skin beneath his neck and gently grazed the underside of his penis with the palm of her hand. "I kind of like it."

She might as well have told him that she would buy him bottle caps for the rest of his life.

"I thought we weren't supposed to be asking questions," said James, giving her what he hoped was a devil-may-care smile.

Jessie shrugged and looked directly into his eyes before shimmying out of the bottom half of her night clothes playfully. "Some questions just can't wait. Like why haven't we done this before?"

Her wiry red curls were enchanting him and taking all his suavity away. "Because we're imbeciles."

Contemplating his words, Jessie nodded slowly. "I suppose that had something to do with it."

Before James could let out a breathless laugh, she had taken one of his hands in her own and gently tugged them toward the direction of her sleeping bag. He steadied her and shifted onto his knees as his lover laid on her back and stared up at him with a look of utter enrapture. The entire situation was revolving and replaying in his head and making it nearly impossible to see anything but Jessie's sweaty skin glistening against the slick navy material of her sleeping bag and the absolutely phenomenal view she was giving him of the world hidden between her folds. He suddenly felt woefully unprepared for whatever they were about to do and was struck by how much Jessie looked like a woman lying there with that expectant look in her eyes and her chest bouncing ever so slightly with every breath. How could he ever hope to please her? He was such a child and such a screw-up and such a…

"Dear?"

Never before had James heard his partner sound so small and vulnerable. Gaining strength, he placed two hands on either side of her legs and slowly slid them up the expanse of her body while taking in every single piece of skin in with restless eyes. Both of their bodies strained toward one another when his fingers danced across her beady nipples and it took the little bit of resolve that James had left to continue his journey and settle his body entirely on hers with his hands circling her head. The entire world had melted away at the sight of Jessie's eyes. It was as if he were colliding with an extension of himself. He tried in vain to remember some story told to him long ago about the first humans being forcibly torn from their partners and their freakishly four-legged bodies in order to form two halves of one whole. His younger self had laughed until he cried at the silliness of it all. Now he could not imagine another explanation for the way Jessie's body could melt so effortlessly against his own.

Lowering his lips to Jessie's mouth, James let his hips rock lightly against hers and thought his brain would explode when she responded in kind. His erection had become buried in the wet curls of his partner and he marveled at the sensation with a feminine flutter of his eyelashes. Their kiss was deep and dark and needy and he felt his heart skip a beat when Jessie's eyes opened to give him the heaviest look he had ever seen. Her tongue made its rounds in his mouth and he could not stifle the soft mewl from coming out of his mouth when she pulled away.

"James…we've got to start doing something. They'll beat us." She swept her fingers along the curve of his bum and he shuddered.

"I don't care," he said, staring and massaging her left breast with fatigued fingers. "This isn't about them anymore. Jessie…I..I…"

"I know," she responded quietly, bringing a hand to his cheek. Her thumb caressed the skin just below his eyes and he blinked tiredly. "I know, James. I do too."

That was all he needed to hear. He smiled wistfully and brought his lips to rest on her forehead.

"Now get that pretty mouth to work. The rest of me is feeling pretty lonesome right about now."

As if stuck in a dream, he nodded and shifted down her body in a sticky slide. He brought his face in between her breasts and nuzzled the skin there. It felt rather silly on his part, but he was given a throaty grunt that made his head turn to eye one of her bare breasts. Feeling particularly naughty and licking his lips to ready them, he brought his mouth down directly over the nipple and began to suckle like a babe. Her sweat was warm in his mouth and he noted how she tasted like heat – smoky and strong and sizzling. Jessie urged him on with sharp cries and her thumb, which had now fallen to rub half circles at the side of his mouth. Cassidy and Boxer seemed to have never existed and he couldn't have concentrated on their voices if he tried. He had enough trouble keeping his heart from combusting.

As it was, he was lost in the power he held over his normally haughty partner. He had never felt so in-control in his life with her fingers digging into his back and her voice becoming pitchy and thick. Switching breasts every so often and grinding his hips into her sweaty thighs, James was fairly sure that he had never felt more like a man. And then Jessie had to go and ruin it all by speaking.

"I'm never going to scream like this, James. Go down," she said with a gentle shove to his head.

Slightly disappointed, James gave her left nipple one last lick while raising his eyes to observe her face. No matter what her mouth had said, she looked as though she could have laid there forever. Her normally frowning lips were relaxed and gentle looking. If he hadn't lived with her for years, James might have been fooled into calling her angelic.

Sidling down her body with his nose trailing her skin, he inhaled deeply and felt himself grow lightheaded. Stopping so that his wrists were settled atop her navel, he opened his eyes and bit his lower lip as Jessie widened her hips for him. He brought his hands down to shakily assist him in parting her folds. She was infinitely warm and wet against his fingers and his mind began to wander. All he could process was images involving him burying himself to the hilt inside of her and finally becoming a part of her. A small part of him reminded him that he was already a part of her well-hidden, well-guarded heart, but this gave him no comfort. His body was on fire and only she could smother the flames.

As if enraged at this thought, he lowered his mouth and lapped at the pulsing pink flesh that the rest of his body could not enjoy. The pressure that had been seated on the very bottom of his stomach was quickly heading lower and he twisted his hips in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. He heard his partner whimper and he opened one eye. Her pretty face was red and richly brightened from her usual sour demeanor and she was watching him with dark eyes.

When she spoke, it was as if something had gotten caught in her throat. "Shift onto your side. I wanna see Little James."

Groaning, James obeyed. Jessie let out the sharpest sigh and let her hand brush the greasy blue hair from his face.

"Mine," she breathed.

He could do nothing but bury his tongue further into her entrance in agreement.

They stayed that way for a long while with his unpracticed mouth working wonders on her throbbing core. Several times Jessie called out his name, but never quite as loudly as was necessary. The rest of the world began to hail down on them. Cassidy's voice and Boxer's boisterous grunting were infiltrating their sanctuary and making their bodies alert and agitated. Moments passed and neither James nor Jessie could ignore the utter shriek Cassidy let loose with a string of curses and hoarse laughter. Jessie gasped.

"Take that, Jessie-Jess," the blonde screeched, her voice both strained and rasped.

James nearly jumped when Jessie's body shook with laughter. "I'd rather not, Cassidy. I'd actually appreciate it if you could shut your thighs now. The stench is revolting."

He couldn't help but laugh and felt Jessie's fingers working their way through his hair affectionately.

"Well at least my man knows what he's doing. What is James doing…building you a vibrator from scratch?"

Boxer snorted. Jessie harrumphed and rolled her hips so that James's tongue scrapped against her from every angle. "Don't worry about what he's doing, Blondie. You'll hear the re…oh right there, James…the results soon enough."

Cassidy huffed and James heard her no more. He felt more than saw Jessie stretch idly and felt his erection throb at the sight of her breasts peaking as she arched her back. He was gone again…lost in her body and in the moment and in the pounding in his ears. Letting one hand fall away from her folds and slither toward his penis, he quivered. He had never been so hard before in his entire life and, if truth be told, he was rather afraid. The slightest brush of his hand against his shaft was maddening.

He felt Jessie shift beneath him and barely made out the slight scuffle of dirt as she set her elbows into the ground to sit up. "James? Are you forgetting that it's _me _that needs to be screaming?"

James would later wonder if some higher Pokemon power was looking down on them. Determined to please her, he became sloppy and ran his tongue through every crevice he could find before feeling something like a flower bud run underneath his mouth. Jessie let out a cry so sudden and so loud that James's head whipped up in concern before being forced back into her soaking curls.

"Again…oh do it again, James," she whispered huskily.

It took a moment for James's free hand to pry her dripping folds apart and spot the thinly-capped nub that he had failed to notice before. Intrigued, he focused all his attention on the spot with the flat of his tongue and the skin of his teeth. Every single cry that fell from her lips penetrated his defenses and made his heart swell until he was sure it would burst from his chest. Her hands were tangled in his hair in an instant and tugging hard enough to elicit a groan from his throat.

"Oh, James. Just a little bit longer."

It could have been an eternity. Every muscle in his body seemed to be pushing against the confines of his skin in an attempt to break free and join his beloved and yet he pushed forward. Burying his face further into her folds, he worked with all his might despite her scent driving him up the wall. He could barely see a thing and his lungs began to ache for air as Jessie's skin became white-hot to the touch. It was his muffled whimper that sent her toppling over the edge and clinging to him for dear life. The pain her twisting fingers was causing to his scalp was nothing compared to the elation of hearing his name screamed to high heaven over and over again like a plea to the gods.

"_James_! _James_!" her voice cried on. His name sounded like the holiest thing in the world. Nothing could compare to this moment. Nothing could take away the absolutely divine feeling of…

"Oh, James! James! Let me spank that pretty little ass of yours again!" Cassidy's voice was mocking and dull and indifferent.

"Oh yes, James!" Boxer cried, pounding his fist into the ground. At least James hoped it was his fist. "Squeal like a Spoink for mama!"

Their laughter curdled his high and brought a sharp, aching pain in his chest. He felt silly and used and awkward lying on the ground of the tent still breathing heavy air onto Jessie's glistening flesh. Hot tears began to form at his eyes and he ducked his head into the comforting warmth of Jessie's thigh before a single finger lifted his chin up. Her face was soft and colored slightly with the remnants of her pleasure.

"Screw them," she said softly. Her eyes were as big and as beautiful as the stars.

James's sad face did not crack. "We should have waited…_I _should have waited. They shouldn't have been a part of this. This has been the most beautiful experience of my entire life and they had to go and ruin it."

He was pouting again, but he no longer cared. All he could think about was every moment after that they would spend fighting the other Rockets in front of the twerps and the incessant badgering they would endure. To top it all off, he was hard and aching and grumpy, which meant that his temper would only increase in its childish nature. He felt like stomping his feet and gifting Cassidy and her lover with the worst stink eye known to man.

Unluckily for him, the opening for the vengeful member of the team had already been fulfilled. "James…come up here. Forget them. We have more…pressing matters at hand." He felt the soft skin of her lower legs brush against his erection and he shivered.

"I don't want to. Not anymore," he whined. "They'll hear and they'll just pick on us and…"

"_James_." The sweetness was gone from her voice. Bitchy Jessie had taken over with a force.

"Mmph." He climbed up her body with a decidedly childish frown plastered on his face and stared down at her with frustrated eyes.

She smirked at him. She actually had the audacity to _smirk_. Furious, James opened his mouth to tell her what an absolute _jerk_ she was being. His words never came, however. Jessie's hand was as quick and as predatory as her beloved Arbok and all his well-calculated barbs disappeared into a gasp as she grasped his shaft and let her grip grow tight. She began to work him and he soon began to wonder why he ever hesitated to climb on top of her once more. The muscles in his ass began to twitch and tighten and he bit his lower lip until he was sure it would bleed. _Sweet Arceus._

"You were saying?" Jessie tilted her head and allowed a large wave of red hair to cover her left eye.

"Mmn…I…I have no idea," he admitted, rocking his hips and feeling his temperature grow far too high as her hand slid from his dripping head to his balls. The pleasure was teeming just below his skin. He was going to die.

A single pause. "Do you trust me?"

"With everything," he breathed.

A tug on his manhood saw him falling back into the blanket of her body. He watched her intently until her fingers began to pull him toward the cleft between her legs.

"J-Jessie!"

"Sssh…you trust me…let me trust you," she said, lifting her hips and letting the head of his penis poke the folds he had so recently worshipped. Her fingers were confident and constricting as she pulled him inside of her to enjoy the sweltering warmth of the gates of heaven.

Twenty years of sanity were thrown out the window. Even with his shaft completely outside of her, he could let his imagination run wild with the feel of her about him so wet and willing and wonderful. And then she began to tease him mercilessly and run his tip in circles and he suddenly found his eyes fluttering to the wrong side of his head. It had to be what an overdose was like.

"Jessie, I'm going to explode," he cried, feeling his entire body tremble.

His glimpse of heaven disappeared and he found himself frantically bucking into her shocked hand. No longer able to pick Cassidy out of a line-up, he let out a shattering scream and every bit of him drained onto her. If his brain was able to process anything but the sobs shaking his body, he would have been relieved. Jessie's screams far outweighed his own.

"NOT ON ME! JAMES! I'M FILTHY!"

Heedless of his lover's banshee-like cries, James collapsed on top of her and remained totally motionless for quite a few minutes as Jessie fumed. Consciousness seeped into him like a drug and he smiled lazily against Jessie's cheek.

"Jessica, that was…"

"GAH!"

Lover or no lover, Jessie was still a fighter. She roared and she tore herself away with frantically swiping motions on the stained perfection of her body.

It was at this very moment in the tent beside them that Butch rose to his feet with a pad of paper and a pencil in his hands.

"Where the hell are you going?" Cassidy barked.

"Getting pointers from James. Don't you try and stop me!"

Growling, she lunged and nearly sent him spiraling to the ground when she grabbed his ankle. "Get back in here, you traitor!"

"Cassidy, this is bigger than you and me! Do this for the good of the team!"

"SIT. DOWN."

He plopped beside her with his entire face fallen into a mass of disappointment. When confident her partner was not moving and the sound of James and Jessie's heavy breathing filled the night, Cassidy allowed sleep to overtake her.

"Oh well," Butch sighed, shifting onto his back. "Losing one little heist can't hurt…and when I tell James's sex secrets to Giovanni, we'll probably _still_ end up with a promotion. Heh."


	4. Judas

**A/N:** I'm actually quite pleased with this one although some OCness is going on.

I don't own anything from the Pokémon world, especially not the TRio.

* * *

><p><strong>Title: <strong>Judas

**Rating:** M

**Time/Generation: **Directly after _The Ole' Berate and Switch._

**Warnings: **High sexual content.

* * *

><p>"For the last time, Jessie…I'm sorry!"<p>

Her eyes remained trained on a wayward cloud that had broken away from its small group of puffy, ice cream-shaped brethren that trailed along behind the ginormous head of the Meowth hot air balloon. Their brief sojourn digging the trap for Paunch and Cassidy was all but forgotten as she curled her fingers into the woven threads at the mouth of their balloon basket. She could just make out the sound of her human partner sniffling behind her and she closed her eyes with a scowl.

_Taking off with Cassidy…Cassidy! Her out of all of the wayward women in Team Rocket! _Her fingers went stiff and she could feel the spiked ends of basket tendrils poke at the underside of her fingernails. _How dare he!_

"Come ahn, Jess," said Meowth, poking her in the back of the leg. "We's all a fah-ma-lee heeyah. James and I didn' jump down _yah _throat fah takin' dah biggest and bestest part oh dah biscuit earlier, so why stay mad at him ovah silly ole Cassidy?"

It was amazing her head didn't come off with how furiously she whipped it to face Meowth with an icy glare and a heated stare that had him fumbling backwards with both paws raised defensively over his face. When it became apparent from her rage-reddened face and her newly clenched fist that Jessie did not intend to respond to him, Meowth looked up at James sympathetically.

"I tried," he said, eyes full of pity.

"Thank you, Meowth," James said sadly, patting the feline's head and looking up into Jessie's cold eyes. His childlike face became long and his voice became low as he tested the waters once again. "Jessie…"

"Shut it," she spat, turning her back to him once again.

"I'm not mad at you for taking off with Biff! I forgive you! Forgive me!" he whined.

She flicked her hair disdainfully. "No."

Meowth sighed and the small sound of his scuffles as he curled up at James's stationary feet could be made out as the blue-haired man groaned irritably. "Why?"

Even though her anger was coursing through her veins like a drug and her entire body burned with the desire to beat him senseless before throwing him over the side of balloon, she could not help a smirk from forming on her lips at his childish tone. "Because I said so."

Another groan, this time closer to a growl, left his throat. "You know I can't stand it when you say that! Jessie! Please!"

"Nope." She smiled now and reasoned the small act of acquisition could remain a secret between her and the clouds.

"Why d'ya hate her so much anyways, Jess?" Meowth said with a yawn. "Ya hardly even talked tah da goil dis time an' yah actin' like she ran away wid yah last friend in da world."

_But she did…she did…she did. _"You wouldn't understand it, Meowth. It doesn't matter anyway."

James was beside her in a second and her body tensed to welcome him before shifting to ensure her face was as far away from him as the small square of basket would allow. "If it has you upset with me, it matters! Tell me what I can do, Jess! All this fighting has to stop!"

The funny thing was that a part of her agreed with him. The fighting was tiresome and time consuming and tearing tiny holes in the warm blanket of friendship and familial familiarity she had formed with James and Meowth. But as much as she longed to merely write the day off and wake up tomorrow with a new lease on life and an ageless desire to capture a certain yellow rodent, she could not let go of the image of Cassidy dragging James away by the arm…her porcelain arm shining in the hospital-like lights of the hall…her backside swishing in a way that Jessie could not miss. It was not that Jessie had some convoluted notion of Cassidy and James in some heated tryst…the mere thought was laughable. It was the fact that nothing happened at all…and yet everything had happened. Cassidy's stench was on him like some terrible, terrible disease that was slowly tainting his innocent flesh. She could feel the shift when their hands brushed over their trusted shovels…a feeling like a thousand caterpie writhing under her skin.

_No_, a small voice inside her whispered. _That was you. You did that…not Cassidy._

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything," James protested.

She rolled her eyes.

_He can't stand being near you…can't you see that? He just wants to put this business behind you so you can work together in the morning. Hell, he'd rather _die _than be tied down to someone like you._

"No," she said, shaking her head lightly.

James cocked an eyebrow into the air and looked at Meowth. The cat responded with a lazy shrug of his shoulders.

_Who could stand being around you? Name one person who's stayed. Name one…just one…_

It was an impulse…true though it was…and one she would later question until her mind ran in circles for so long that it erased all beginnings and refused all ends. It was a single name that never failed to provide her comfort and a crawling feeling on the back of her neck as if she'd suddenly been pinched out of her wits. It was her constant and, if truth be told, it scared her more than she would ever care to admit. And so she said that one name and left everything else – the questions and the answers and the truth itself – shrouded in the unknown convinced that her heart – her rusted, rimless heart – would be safe there.

But this time she thought wrong.

"James."

"Hmm?"

In her stupor, she forgot she had been deadest on avoiding his eyes. She looked at him inquisitively and found herself frowning at his blank, listless look. As if he didn't know. "What?"

She noted the confusion in his brow before those large green eyes went wider and trained themselves onto her with a look that just made her want to slap him. It was unsettling. _James _was unsettling.

This day just needed to _end_.

"Please. No more fighting." He blinked and she found herself distracted by the sliver of hair floating between his eyes. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

She was joking. Partially. "Let's see…food…a hot shower…a pillow – a thick one – to sleep on. That would be a great start."

Frowning, James clasped a hand over his chin and stared at the floor of the basket before something like recognition clicked in his eyes. He turned and leaned over the edge of the basket to survey their surroundings and a horrible voice – perhaps the same one from earlier – streamed the word _fall_ like a banner across her psyche. A cold shiver spread down her spine.

"Meowth, where are we exactly?" James asked, squinting slightly at the bushy trees below them.

Mumbling and dragging himself up his side of the basket, Meowth sniffed. "Dunno. Looks like we can be headen' fah Pewter City…dat be about right. Eh…what's dat little hole in-between Mulberry and Pewter again?"

"Ackee," James supplied before Meowth could make it over to the little bag where their worn and torn map was held.

Pleased with James's answer, the cat plopped on his back and grinned. "Yep. Dat's da one. Wake Meowth when wes gets dere."

Jessie's head tilted to the side and she watched James smile happily at her. "What's so important about this 'Ackee' that has you looking like a schoolboy?"

A small blush crept over the skin of his nose. "A winter cottage."

"Wha…what!" she exclaimed, feeling a bit of hope creep into her chest. "You just casually remember these things after we've been busting our behinds to find some shelter? Great partner you are." She flicked her hair, though the spite from before was gone. "How many of these things are there anyway?"

"I dunno," he admitted lightly, his blush spreading to his cheeks when Jessie slid onto the floor of the basket with something like acceptance and calmly told him to land the balloon as near as the cottage as possible. She was asleep in a matter of moments and James sighed contentedly while examining the ground below. Peace. What a beautiful, fragile, antsy little thing it could be.

And so very fleeting.

* * *

><p>"Wow," said Jessie, blinking rapidly to adjust her eyes to the bright light emitting a warm glow from the kitchen. "I'm impressed, James. This place is pretty nice."<p>

She wanted to say something befitting of the cottage's beauty…something like picturesque or homey or calming…but she couldn't allow the words to flow. Everything from the white paneled nook in the kitchen with blue plaid cushions to the utterly creamy arms of the living room's three couches was like something ripped straight from a magazine. The fireplace – some antique and angular looking thing – crackled and simmered mere feet from her and she shuffled over to stand over Meowth's purring body. He had quickly found a nestling place in the ursaring-skin rug where he could continue his nap in peace. The long day had finally given way to night and Jessie smiled as James came back into the room with a grin plastered on his face and a mountain of blankets cradled in his arms.

"I'll get you a bed prepared, Jess. I'm sure you're tired after such a long day."

She shrugged. "I'll probably grab a snack and head for the shower before hitting the hay."

The little time it took for him to dump the blankets onto a rather pretentious looking bed wearing a long jade-colored quilt produced a frown onto his features. He came back into the living room examining the walls with curious eyes. Jessie raised a red brow.

"Something the matter? No food?"

He shook his head and puffed a small bit of air at the stubborn bit of hair that had decided to attack his right eye. "No, there should be something in the kitchen. But if I'm not mistaken…" His face fell and he lifted his head before walking. He dragged off in the direction of yet another room past the kitchen with Jessie at his heels.

"What's the matter?" she said, feeling more than a little bit shocked when the room turned out to be what had obviously been his parents' bedroom. A whiff of something strong and sophisticated assaulted her senses and she ran her hand absently over the mahogany end board of the cozy bedframe. "Hmph…I don't see a problem here at all, James. A girl could certainly get used to this."

He ignored her and kept right on walking toward two rather large yet unassuming doors pressed flat against the opposite side of the room leaving Jessie to frown. He was quickly throwing himself back onto her 'Pissing Jessie Off' list. But then the doors to the mystery room were opened and the lights buzzed on and the breath that had been leaving her throat suddenly escaped her mouth in a rush.

"Oh…it's…it's _beautiful_…"

She was inside the room in a second with her boots snapping along the tiled floor. It was a splendidly decorated bathroom bathed in white and spacious enough to house an onix with room to spare. The stunning contrast of the ebony faucet against the cool, pale skin of the sauna-sized tub drew in all of her attention though it was tucked into the corner of the room with the black-mouthed toilet and porcelain sinks opposite. A series of spotless mirrors trimmed the tub and showed the reflection of a beaming boy and a gap-mouthed girl before tapering off at each end to meet white shelves filled with towels and various toiletries. She did not fail to notice the sweeping letters decorating the top of each pristinely packed towel or the soft underlying smell that had followed them from the master bedroom.

James popped a fist into an open hand in victory. "Just as I thought!"

"Fond memories?" she said, looking over to him.

"Eh…mommy and daddy usually spent their time in the mountains when we came here," he explained, face screwed up in concentration. "I was allowed a little more freedom here. I actually got to take bubble baths. It was so fun! Hey!"

There was a row of doors wearing panels – a series of stiles – to Jessie's right that she would have missed had her partner not headed straight for them. Allowing one of the doors to creak open, James fell to his knees. The next thing she knew was a shrill squeal of delight.

"Eeeeeeee! Mr. Duckie!"

A large and rather annoying squeak pulled Jessie from examining her face in the row of mirrors and she turned to spot James cuddling a large plastic duck sporting the head of a psyduck. Leaning just right, she could make out a small octillery toy lying with its large eyes gazing up at its old playmate. An image of a much smaller James came to her mind and she could easily place him among a cloud of bubbles happily playing with his toys while his parents were off exploring the mountains and, presumably, discovering the horrid cave from which that monster of a fiancée had crawled out of.

She laughed lightly at the thought. James pressed the duck against his cheek and once again the room was filled with squeaking. The smooth material of her fan in her fingers brought her so much comfort and her partner so much pain.

Rubbing his head with a rueful pout, James brought up his toy to his face. "Have you ever, Mr. Duckie?"

Rolling her eyes, Jessie snorted. "Lovely though this may be, you know I prefer a shower, James."

He sniffed. "Mnn…don't hit me…this is the only bathroom."

"What! Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed, placing both hands on her hips and frowning.

Having begrudgingly placed the psyduck toy back into its hideaway space, James stood and cautiously patted one side of his head. "I'm sorry, Jess. If I had known that I would meet you one day, I would have asked for them to build another one. Does that make it any better?"

"No, it doesn't, you imbecile," she said, clenching the small bit of her nose poised between her closed eyes. "I suppose this will just have to do."

Confident he would not be smacked once more, James smiled apologetically. "I'll get dinner going. Watch out for the hot water…it tends to get pretty hot pretty fast."

"Will do," said Jessie, wrinkling her nose at the offensive, ostentatious tub.

She would never know what brought the comment on…perhaps it was the twist in her lips or the contempt in her eyes. Maybe he just wanted to hear her laugh. Or there was the possibility…an off chance, really…that it was one of those small and unassuming musings that are simply meant to be said. It was the giant leap on the moon. It was the gunshot signifying the end to a million lives of anonymity. It was nothing…so why, oh why did she snap?

His face went soft and a mischievous glint entered his green eyes. A short laugh left his lips. "Maybe you can get that 'Essence of Butcher' off, eh, Jess?"

She did not curse or cry or even cut a quick path to his side to slap the smirk off his face. Jessie's entire body went limp, her eyes staring in the mirror in front of her though, in truth, she saw nothing at all. The faint heave of the fireplace from the living room echoed in her head until she thought she would go insane.

_So this is what they feel before they lose it all…this is what leads the bullet out of the barrel_.

A carefully crafted simper glared at her from her reflection and she wondered who it was before she watched the mouth open at the exact same time as her own. "Maybe."

He left her then and the room began to feel decidedly cold. She had no idea how long she stood there, but when she felt the first tear stroll down her cheek, she snapped from her revelry long enough to focus in on her image in the mirror. A quiver went through her spine. And then the thought – the desire – entered her mind as gradually and numbing as the musky smell his parents had left behind. It was crazy…_she_ was crazy…or was she?

She fingered the white button at the neck of her jacket and slipped it through the hole with lazy fingers. Her breasts popped forth from the constraint of the jacket and she raised her hands to cup each one through her shirt and bra. She marveled at the ache that the shift in her thoughts had produced in her nipples and she shrugged her jacket off with a slightly soft, slightly frustrated sigh.

She was crazy.

Her hands rushed through her long hair in an agitated manner that left her mind feeling heady and heated and too heavy for her shoulders. Tendrils of red curls began to lick the sides of her face and she groaned. _Why? _Letting her fingertips skim her skin and hook themselves against the sleek material of her boots, Jessie pushed them down her thighs and tossed each one to the side in turn. Pale pink toenails greeted her and made her stomach lurch slightly. She raised her body and turned her head toward the closed doors.

She _wasn't _crazy.

The tiled floor was cold against the underside of her toes and she paced toward the tub and yanked the knobs in opposite directions to release a torrent of pristine water from the faucet. She fumbled with the stopper and, having secured it in its place before the water had a chance to cover the base of the tub, paused before lifting up her head to glance into the mirror once more.

The whole world was crazy, she reasoned.

A timid knock at the door made her jump and she whirled around with a hand placed over her heart.

"Jessie?" James voice called, feet shuffling loudly against the carpet in the next room. "Are you just getting started in there? Dinner is ready and I…"

"No," she shouted, surprised by the forcefulness in her voice. "I…I was just running the water for your bath. I'm all washed up."

An awkward silence. "You…really? You've never done that before."

Taking in a deep breath, she straightened her back as if poising for an attack. "Well, I never had the chance outside in the woods, did I?"

"No, I suppose not." Another pause. The image of him smiling on the other side of the door came to her mind and she wondered how his face would appear if she ripped the door open that very instant. "That's very sweet of you, Jessie. Thank you."

She coughed. "Yeah, yeah…now let me get dressed. You'll have to eat quick so the water doesn't get cold."

A bubble of laughter popped from James's throat. "Oh that's okay. I'm starving and I don't mind the water being a little lukewarm. Just hurry out before Meowth eats it all."

She was alone again and yet she found herself unable to turn away from the door. It was with a melancholy heart that she finally tore her gaze away and her hand found its way into the steaming water still gushing into the tub. She shook her hand as if offended at the sting and brought her fingers to drag along the skin at her jaw and neck. God forbid that filthy cat recognize her bone dry skin and ruin the whole procedure.

Her free hand, the one that had been resting on one of the taps, clenched tightly so that her nails grazed one another. She blinked.

_Lukewarm…lukewarm…no, James. This water is going to be steaming by the time I'm done with you. Crazy, crazy, crazy._

* * *

><p>By the time their meal was done, Meowth was propped up against the back of his chair and patting his stomach happily.<p>

"Ahhhh! Dere's ab-so-loot-ly nutin' betta den ah warm meal!" His tongue swiped across his teeth and he grinned. "Tanks, Jimbo!"

James smiled, his hands filled with dirty plates. "You're welcome, buddy. I pulled Growlie's old bed next to the fireplace for the night. Sound good?"

She could have sworn she heard Meowth purring. "I don' mind! Dat sounds like de cat's meow tah Me-owth!"

Making his way over to the wide-mouthed kitchen sinks, James laughed. "I'm glad. I'm assuming you'll be heading in soon, eh?"

"Yah know me too well, James," said the cat, wriggling his behind to push his chair back and pounce onto the floor. "Wake me up bafah ya head tah bed. I's goin tah woik on awh Pikachu Picker. Who knows when wah'll run intah dose twoips again."

"Sleep tight, Meowth," said James.

"Nighty night youse two. Includin' you, Jess," the cat bit out, flicking his tail against her arm that had fallen from the table and now hung from her side like a body dangling from the gallows. Her head, which was settled comfortably upon her other arm on the top of the table, nodded at him. The cat hmphed and swished toward his new bed before shuffling beneath the covers and sighing contentedly.

"Hmn," James chortled, turning to Jessie and developing a slight frown. "Something the matter, Jess? You didn't eat all your noodles. That isn't like you."

Jessie's mind began to work in overdrive. She would have to work fast if her plan were to succeed.

"You calling me fat or something?"

"N-no…just…just ah…" he attempted to compose himself and Jessie smirked. "Just wondering if you were feeling okay."

She yawned. "Little tired. Might head for bed a little early."

Concern passed over his features then and he clanked the dishes together in a half-hearted attempt to get her to raise her head. "Yeah? I think I might just stay up. You want me to wake you?"

"Not unless you want a date with my mallet," she said, stretching upright leisurely.

His face froze in a half amused, half terrified smirk. "No thanks."

Should she do it? Her heart raced. James was engulfed in the task of washing dishes. Would he verify her location before heading to bathe? If she backed out now, he would never know where her mind had been. There was still time…

But then she would be a coward.

With an exaggerated yawn that Jessie mentally moaned would never make it onto the big screen, she rose and scratched her side. "Make sure to get the glasses too. You always forget those."

"Goodnight to you too, Jessie," he said, rubbing at a red bowl rather furiously with his hands and sending a small wave of water to the floor. "Darn it."

She stood and waited in an attempt to calculate where his eyes would land next before hurrying off in the direction of his parents' abandoned bedroom. Pressing her body against the nearest wall and listening for any sign that James had seen her rush off in the wrong direction, she let out a breath she was unaware of ever holding. The sloshing of dish water reverberated from the next room and Jessie stalked into the bathroom with her hands rubbing at her neck. She closed the door behind her quietly and was faced with the reflection of her pale face in the mirrors. Ignoring the look in her eyes begging her to turn around and stop all this madness, she made her way into the closest where James's plastic toys lay regarding her with wide, judgmental stares. She kicked the psyduck in the head in retaliation.

_Shut the door…shut the door…don't let the boy see what's in store._

Her hand reached out to clutch the gold-plated doorknob and she slowly brought it toward her. She was absolutely determined not to look at the image in the mirror for fear she would lose her will to do what now seemed like such a necessity. When the door had come close enough to cut all but a hand's width of space from her and the rest of the room, Jessie paused and decided to leave it slightly ajar. Perhaps James would walk in and spot her and turn around and run…maybe he could escape her. She could hold out hope, at least.

He appeared far sooner than she had expected. A large yawn left his lips as he shut the door behind him with his foot and stretched his arms above his head. He took three steps into the room before stumbling over Jessie's forgotten boots and nearly smacking his head on the tub. Swirling around, James pouted at the offensive footwear before rolling his shoulders and flicking some hair from his face. He picked up the boots with a bit of a smile on his face and set them beside the tub gently. She watched him shake his head before reaching a hand into the water and letting his head sway from side to side. Apparently deciding the water could stand being a little hotter; he yanked one of the taps awake and leaned his body onto the tub to stabilize himself while he pulled off his boots. Jessie frowned and her heart race as she watched the shadowy figure at the unassuming corner of the mirror do the same. She was breathing so loudly and so shakily that she was certain his head would turn at any moment.

Having left his boots to join Jessie's at the side of the tub, James began to work at his jacket while humming a little tune that Jessie did not recognize. Soon the material was sliding from his angled shoulders and slipping to the floor to reveal a black shirt that did nothing for his figure. She always found it rather dorky of him to stuff the darn thing into his pants…a move that belied his normally impeccable fashion sense. The shirt was promptly untucked from its confines and Jessie tilted her head. Had it always been that baggy? Where was she when _that _happened? Her thoughts were dizzying, making her head go lightheaded. Without letting a single coherent thought pass through her brain, she leaned her temple against the doorway. The proceeding creak sent her heart into the very back of her throat. Every muscle and vein in her body seized up.

His body went stiff as if shot and then his head turned, his eyes searching the room in one fell swoop. Her fingers twitched at her side. He exhaled before facing the closest and taking short, stable steps forward. Though terror teased through her body, she did not move her head from the door even when her back went taut with tension and her neck screamed to lean back into the darkness. His black socks scuffed against the floor. Her eyes were dry though she was blinking so rapidly that the picture in front of her kept fading. He was so close that his smell – something earthy and flowery – was assaulting her more heavily than any bolt by any pikachu.

She let out another breath – one that was airy and light – and he shot back and flailed as if on fire.

"AHHHHHHHHH! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

It was worse than a car alarm and she riled up her nose in consternation before pushing the door open and thrusting herself into the room.

"Shut up," she said, disgusted.

Shut up he did. James's face crinkled in confusion, his blue hair wafting in his eyes that screamed the question he seemed too stunned to ask. A couple moments passed before his head tilted dumbly and his mouth began moving.

"Uh…Jess? Did you…" He paused, apparently attempting to collect his thoughts. "Did you get lost? Or ah…can I help you?"

"Yes," she said before shaking her head. "No. I meant no." She blinked. "Take your clothes off."

Having successfully calmed down, James rubbed his lips together and clenched his fingers against his palm. "A-huh?"

Her eyes dimmed to slits, her cheeks coloring slightly. "Your clothes. On the floor. Now."

His head seemed to have trouble processing his movements properly. Twitching an eye and then another, James fidgeted. "I'm…I'm confused, Jess." There was a fragility in his voice…a sweet innocence that made the guilt weigh on her like a mountain on her chest.

"I want her off of you!" she screamed, catching her breath in soft pants. She had never felt her cheeks burn with such ferocity. It reminded her of sticking her hands far too close to a fire.

If he had retained any of his functions, they were gone now. He looked at her in a plain and open way that clearly spoke the extent of his bewilderment and sent her shifting toward the door. His eyes followed her with an intent curiousness.

"Is this about Cassidy? Mew, Jessie…talk to me about these things. You wanna go in the living room? Maybe kick back over a film…"

"I want her off of you," she repeated, meeting his eyes and feeling a jolt like fire running through her veins. "I want you to be mine again."

He changed then, though, in his defense, so did the entire room. All the air seemed to disappear and his eyes bulged just slightly to regard her every movement. She was a bug beneath a microscope and her limbs trembled under the scrutiny. He seemed to be searching for something, though she knew not what, and that uncertainty scared her senseless. Gaining some sense of normality, she glanced toward the door as if to call his attention to the fact that it was unlocked. She looked back. His entire face had gone emotionless.

"Why?"

She felt like a child getting spanked. "Does it matter?"

And then he did something that, although she had commanded it, nearly knocked all the air from her lungs. His right hand rose to the middle of his t-shirt and, with that same searching look, he slowly lifted it from his body and threw it over his head. Pink nipples peaked from his pale chest, a chest which rose and fell ever so softly with his light breathing. Her eyes observed him calmly, scientifically. A mole on the lower left side of his stomach caught her attention for far longer than it should have and she made a mental note of its size and location. She lifted a hand to the back of her neck as her eyes dropped to gaze at the area past the soft hair surrounding his belly button.

And then the water came crashing to the floor to break them both out of their fantasy.

James was the first to hear it and he whirled about to turn the tap into silence. Jessie vaguely noted her soaked boots and the way James's spine hugged his skin as he bent over the tub to release some of the water into the drain. Her tongue wet her lips. Eyes flitting to the mirror, she saw his face half lifted, his eyes watching her intently. She tilted her head to one side, intrigued.

And so they stayed until the water level fell to a respectable height and James returned the plug to its rightful home. He stood and, without turning, brought his hands to his belt. The clink of metal could be heard before two slips of purple fell to either side of his hips. He spread his legs uneasily, messing with the button of his pants before placing two steady hands at the center of his stomach and pushing down. They had reached his knees before Jessie's eyes caught his green ones trained on her body in the reflection of the mirror. She swallowed and flicked her head sneeringly.

Balancing a hand on the tub, James rid the pants from his body one leg at a time while making sure to capture his socks before casting the material to the floor. He had practically no calves…the muscle there having been eaten away by the lack of meals their travels had provided. He pressed some weight on the front of his feet and Jessie lifted her head to spot his hands clenching on either side of the rocket red boxers clinging precariously to his jutting hip bones. His eyes were in the mirror then just barely hooded by his hair and she licked her lips again. The normally peridot color surrounding his pinpoint pupils had gone positively olive.

So the boxers dropped to a pool on the wet tiled floor. Her blinking turned rapid. Another mole…this time positioned at the swell of his left butt cheek…light and barely visible. What a pity if she had missed it.

His first step into the tub was a laborious one. Shifting slightly sideways, James pressed both his hands against the rim of the bath tub to steady himself. She noticed his cheeks then and the blaring blush that had developed there and spread to his nose and all the way up to his hairline. Though his left arm was positioned in an awkward attempt at modesty, Jessie could tell from her generous view of his body that his dick had just begun to stiffen. His other leg came over then and she was presented with the prettiest view of his perky behind before he entered the water, which greeted him with a delicate sway of waves.

He spoke then, his voice sounding hoarse and disused. "There's a bucket in the closest…some soap…some shampoo."

Thankful for the chance to finally move her stiff feet, Jessie made her way into her hiding spot and squinted.

Again his voice called out to her. "The light switch…it's in the corner. No…no…yeah. There."

She flicked the switch and immediately found a bucket filled with bottles and various bath things along with a virgin-white sponge and a razor with a sharp mouth and a spotless pearl handle. The hum of her heartbeat pulsed in her chest as she picked up the bucket and dutifully headed toward the tub. She avoided his eyes as she set her weaponry on the floor and dropped to her knees directly behind his head. Her lips were dry again and she brought a small cloth tucked near the very bottom of the bucket out to rub against them.

"You can leave…if you want to," she stated, looking up.

He shifted and the water patted against the sides of the tub. "I usually start with my hair."

"I'll start where I please and you'll like it," she snapped, leaning her stomach against the tub and dipping the cloth into the water. "Lean your head back."

They both moved with a harmony; his head went backwards to rest on her breasts and her hand cradled his jaw. The cloth came to his forehead and he sighed pleasantly as it slid back and forth in a gentle rhythm. Droplets of water began to make patterns on his face and she brought the cloth down to trace the trails over his eyelids and cheeks, carefully avoiding his lips. The hand at his jawline pressed against the skin gently, her fingers massaging the flesh ever so slightly. She did not miss how he seemed to tilt his head to marvel at the touch. It was then that she noticed the bit of stubble on his neck – light and just becoming scratchy to the touch. Her sanity seemed to return and with it came a feral smirk.

The cloth fell into the water with a despondent plop that made James jump. She felt his head twist about as she switched arms at his neck to reach for the razor, which she picked up with almost practiced ease.

"I don't need a shave," he said, looking up at her suddenly with the first hint of fear since she had first surprised him. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer him. Placing the razor on its belly at the mouth of the tub, she reached back for the soap and immediately brought the bar against his throat. It glided across his skin effortlessly.

"Jess?"

Trading the soap for the razor, she lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

Their eyes met and he brought his left arm out of the water to grasp the wrist grazing the bottom of his ear. Her heart raced and she was faintly aware of the dull yet persistent throb of James's pulse somewhere south of her fingers. His eyes and his grip did not falter and she placed the head of the razor against the hollow of his neck to skim the soap-sudded skin presented there.

"Please don't kill me," he whispered, his eyelashes fluttering as the metal pressed against his neck for the first time. She laughed and his head bobbed along with her chest.

The first contact was torturous. Slowly, as if determined not to frighten him away, Jessie tugged along his skin toward his chin while staring directly into those olive green eyes. He stared toward the ceiling, barely acknowledging her past the faint squeeze on her wrist and the small puffs of breath from his mouth onto the back of her hand. By the time a clean line of freshly shaved flesh presented itself to her view, he was shifting the pressure of his head from one breast to another.

"Look in the mirror, James," she said, clearly annoyed with his antics. "Just look."

He raised his head and examined her handiwork before nodding and lying back down. Though his hand did not release her, it did massage her wrist from time to time in an almost apologetic manner that made each successful trip up his neck thrill her all the more. By the time his neck was naked once more, he had even begun to look at her again with that same studious stare that unsettled her very soul. Placing the razor back in the bucket, she returned her attention to James's neck. Bringing both hands up, she slid her fingertips up and down his neck, her heart skipping a beat each time his soft hair brushed her skin.

He had let go of her wrist by then and was now contentedly lounging in the water with his eyes half-lidded. "Jess…"

She opened her mouth to respond and promptly closed it. The whisper in his voice…the way her name had rolled off his lips…she grazed her nails against his chin.

"Hair?"

"H-huh?"

"I'm washing your hair next?" Her hands left him, emptying the bucket of its contents before grabbing and holding up the shampoo like a trophy. James blinked, snuggling his head into her breasts and sighing loudly.

"Yeah."

"Then sit up."

His body jumped with laughter light and sweet. It was as if the two of them knew that a loud word – a single rude action – could break the spell forever. "I was just getting to that."

"Sure you were."

He scooted upright and lifted his face expectedly in a move that was not lost to the argus-like eyes of the mirror. Pausing, Jessie set the shampoo bottle beside the discarded razor and scratched the wooden surface of the open bucket with her nails. Making sure to catch his gaze in the mirror, she dipped the bucket into the tub with a sloshing sound before gathering some water and clutching the bucket to her chest. His eyebrows cinched and she smiled. The sound of the water cascading over his head and his subsequent yelp made a funny feeling flutter into her chest, especially when she dropped the bucket and saw him shake his newly wetted head.

"Ugh…was that totally necessary?"

"Yes," she said, running her fingers through his hair and feeling especially pleased when he let out a weak groan. "Every inch of you has to get cleaned. Don't you see?"

"I do," he whispered, drugged by her hands dragging along his scalp.

Nodding appreciatively, Jessie snapped the shampoo bottle open and let the liquid form a pool in her hand. She patted her hands together before resuming her massage of his skull. "Good boy."

He looked funny with his blue hair claimed by the suds of the shampoo and his eyes closed to avoid the acidic vanilla-scented liquid. It brought a gentle smile to her lips and she giggled lightly, forgetting the surrounding circumstances for just a moment.

"I love your laugh," he said. She barely noticed.

Wholly lost in the task at hand, Jessie enjoyed sinking her fingers between the strands of his slick hair. It seemed that time had slowed to a crawl and by the time that she prepared another bucketful of water to christen his clean head, the water having become noticeably cooler.

"Your shirt is wet," said James, driving crooked fingers through his hair. The faintest blush now settled on his cheeks.

"So?" She squeezed the sponge against her palm and let it soak in the water at James's back.

He waited and coughed. "You can…you can take it off it you want to."

Tilting her head, she shrugged. "If that's what you want."

The shirt came off with ease to expose her black, lace-cupped bra. James let out a shaky breath.

"Happy?"

"Mmm."

Neither said another word, not even when James lent his wet head into her breasts once more. A single drop of water fell from his head to burst against the small hollow in the middle of her chest and she shivered. The sponge came against his lower neck as she began to scrub.

Her pace had quickened, although she could not be certain why. It was as though she had been caught casting a brick into a house…as if some demon were chasing her down a darkened alleyway that stop too suddenly for her to escape. She leaned to reach the skin at his stomach and pressed her cheek against his own. He fidgeted.

"Something wrong?" she muttered, her eyes seemingly unable to concentrate with a now unobstructed view of his naked body.

His head turned and she felt the tip of his nose press into the corner of her mouth. It was not until she glanced into the mirror that his soft kiss against the side of her face finally registered.

"Nothing," he said, bringing a hand to her head and forcing her to look him in the eye. She turned and met his heated gaze…that same stare. His lips parted and she waited for his question. It never came.

Having James's lips against her own destroyed her. The languid air that had passed so lazily between them now tensed deliciously as his mouth slid against her own. She felt more than heard him twist his body to bring his other hand to the side of her head and something fell into the water between his legs. Hadn't she been doing something? No…no…her hands were free…

They broke away and came back again and again until her body had memorized the feel of his face against her own. His tongue nipped at her mouth experimentally and he seemed to lean impossibly closer to her when she opened her mouth willingly. Exploring her mouth and curling his fingers behind her ears, he gasped when their tongues met for the first time. Though her neck ached something dreadful, she placed a hand on the outside of his right arm to steady him as she ran her tongue along his teeth. But the texture was off and he was pulling back and her face scrunched in confusion.

"Sor…sorry, Jess. Cold sore," he said, stammering.

She contemplated his mouth, the way his tongue kept darting out to taste his lips. Blinking, she placed a chaste kiss where she had felt the discrepancy to be, surprising both herself and James. When she pulled away, his eyes widened and regarded her with scrutiny.

_What? What is it? _she thought furiously. _What the hell is it that you are so intent on finding out?_

"I think…" he started, swallowing slightly. "I think you should come in…you need to get him off of you, after all."

Her mouth screwed up into a frown. "No."

A tug at her hand willed her to acquiesce. She sighed. It _would _create a quicker job out of getting rid of Cassidy. If only it had been this easy the first time around. She shook her head of the thought, sensing tears at her eyes.

Standing was far simpler once James released her, although she did not fail to miss him swishing about in the tub to place his front against the rim and watch her with his own eyes rather than a mere reflection. She felt no shame. Yanking the hooks at the back of her bra loose, she wriggled free from her constraints and threw them halfway across the room. Her skirt was a bit tighter, but her fingers were determined. With something like a sigh, she pushed both her skirt and her panties to the floor before looking up into his eyes.

"You plan on moving over?"

He shifted only slightly to the side and a pleading in his eyes begged her to join him.

"Baby," she said, intending to sound scornful and nasty. Her intentions failed.

She stepped into the water and he was on her in an instant, wrapping his arms about her waist and pressing her body to his own with a desperate gasp. The water cried out at the invasion, seeming far too confused to settle around the two bodies twisting and turning and tumbling in its midst.

"This isn't what we need to do, James," she bit out huskily, her head having ended up against one side of the tub with his lips puckering at her neck. "I need her off…"

"I don't care about Cassidy," he protested, nuzzling his nose against her temple. "Blind, blind woman…"

"Fool," she said, unheeding of the sweetening shift in her voice.

Had she been a prophet, she could have seen it coming. The horrible laugh in his voice…the way his fingers lingered at her belly button…he was showing signs already. But Jessie was never one to see around a corner and their play continued unhindered by inhibitions. The pretense of his careless air and her nasty temper had been cast aside and their bodies, so light underneath all that weight, pressed against one another urgently. She had the slightest awareness of a sponge being pressed urgently against her folds and she dug her nails into his shoulders.

"Stop it," she managed, propping her forehead onto his own. "Stop it, James. Damn you."

"Always so angry…calm down, Jessica." The use of her given name startled her into looking at him and he grinned. "Whoever said that we couldn't wash each other at the same time?"

The words came out without ever having passed through her filter. "You did…you did when you said…"

"So this isn't all about Cassidy…what exactly did I say?"

_I'd rather die. _I'd rather_ die_.

"Mmgh."

"I say a lot of things, you know." He pushed the sponge into her hand and let his fingers whisper up and down the curves of her waist. The soft sloshing of the water might have been a mere breeze. "Actions speak louder than words, don't they? Can't this? Whatever I've said…whatever _we've _said…can't it disappear here? Just this once…oh, Jessie…just this one time…"

He kissed her then both hard and sweet while looping his arms about her neck and she responded by pressing the sponge against his belly as if attempting to separate them from one another somehow. Was that even possible even more? Could it ever be again?

They had agreed to take turns and soon Jessie could no longer remember exactly which pieces of his flesh she had washed and which ones she had merely worshipped with her mouth and fingers. For James's part, he seemed to have acquired an innumerable amount of hands and she could feel his presence slowly lulling her further into this strange insanity.

A part of her – the confident, cold, fame-hungry piece of her soul – wrenched her away from him to lean over the tub in a half-hearted attempt to flee. As if beyond his own control, he lunged for her and his chest stuck to her wet back like a mere extension of herself. He brought his forehead down to press upon the center of her shoulders, his arms curling about her and clasping a breast in turn. His splayed fingers cornered her nipples and made her face flush; though that could have also been attributed to the new game James had formed in rubbing his erection amid the crease in her pert bottom. Her heart began to beat like a drum in her chest. _Get away, get away, get away._

"Do you want to carry this somewhere else, Jessie? Or…ah…we can stop. I can stop." Even he appeared to see through his lies.

Dry lips. Again. "No."

She had meant to stop it all, she really did. But the path she had taken was so very wide and it made it impossible to get back to where she belonged. A hand that had been tearing into the tub only seconds before circled herself and patted his body down until it was able to grasp his penis and tug at it lightly. He grit his teeth against her back and let his entire body shudder under her ministrations.

She was cruel…far too cruel. Dear God, why didn't he just run? Her head churned…her brain feeling as though it might vomit these sordid thoughts and regain some sense of normalcy…

The flesh containing his manhood was thicker than velvet and sleeker than cream. Her back leaned toward him almost involuntarily and he let out a whine both loud and low and began to clumsily move his hips in time with her hand. Wordlessly, his hand kneaded her sensitive breast before falling lower and lower toward her core.

"Da…don't…" she mumbled dumbly.

His fingers found her curls and the wet insides of her vagina, slipping in with ease. She knew he was more innocent than a babe until that very moment…so how did he know how to press his long fingers against her? How did his well-manicured nails melt into her flesh with all her wriggling and writhing? Apparently pleased with his work on her insides, James lifted his fingers far enough to graze her clit in a quick, circular motion. She could not help but liken her scream to that of a prostitute.

The sudden feel of fingers tapping at her jaw jarred her from the pleasure wreaking havoc on her nerves. She turned her head and her heart stopped at the sight of her lover – _James? James's lover? _– leaning toward her body with an all but hidden intent. But his need did not scare her. She could hardly blame him with her own need blazing between her legs and crying out for him to fill her every crease and crevice. It was the look in those green eyes that had been so unidentifiable before…the one that made self-hatred rise in her chest once she had successfully defined it.

She could not…couldn't he see? She could not take something so sacred from him…definitely not _him_, James, who was so kind and so sweet and so many things that she was simply never meant to be. Had he been paying attention at all? The whole was…the plan…he was supposed to…

Her hand stilled on his shaft and he made a futile attempt to rock in her grasp to make sure she had caught his message. She turned to face him, warding off his amorous arms by pushing him away.

"On the edge of the tub."

He didn't need telling twice. The water pattered sorrowfully at his sudden departure and seemed all the more cold and slick for it as it licked at her sides. Soon her face was level with his knees and her head was careening toward the space between his legs. His hand appeared at the back of her swarming locks.

"I didn't really mean…we…don't you want to make love?" His stutter made her hesitate. He wobbled on his seat in expectation.

"No," she said flatly, ignoring the flash of anger, frustration, and pain in his eyes and promptly ringing her mouth about the head of his penis.

Her tongue wrapped haphazardly along his manhood, her eyes boring holes into his stomach. Jessie bobbed her head up and down in a rhythm far faster than the hand massaging the silky flesh of his inner thigh. He made a couple of virtuous attempts to pull her away but soon came under the spell once more. The burn at the back of her throat thrilled her, her nails tangling themselves in the smatter of hair on his leg.

"Gah…gah…" he grunted, letting his hand caress her swollen cheek. She brought her teeth down upon the rim of his head and felt him curl his toes against her stomach.

The tickle in the back of her throat was debilitating and she brought her free hand up to cup his balls, clasping them in the space between her fingers and massaging them until her knuckles grew numb. His cries were desperate now, his knees buckling delightfully.

"Coming…I'm coming. Please," his voice whined and she was thankful. So the dopey part of him would survive. "Please don't stop!"

His words brought a ferocity to her actions that was dizzying as it was frightening. Her heart burned for his release…for the acknowledgement that he was hers and always would be. For the knowledge that, no matter what he ever said or did from this moment forward, he was a liar. She smirked inwardly as she sucked on his tip and his head flew back with a howl.

"…_Jessie_!"

His spurts were bitter and tangy against her tongue and she placed her hands on either side of his thighs for fear he would topple over. When she had assured herself that his boneless silence was finally transferring into gasps for air, she swallowed and let him slide from her mouth. The tub creaked under his weight and he closed his eyes, his breathing becoming a bit more even as he ran a hand through his dripping hair.

She stood awkwardly and his eyes popped open. Attempting to mirror her actions, he pushed himself upward on shaky arms and finally managed to stand and throw his arms about her.

"I…that was…"

"Save it."

Her face was tight. His was riled up in annoyance.

"Well, if you're going to put it that way…"

She would chalk it up later to her need of sleep. Somehow James – her silly, stumbling partner of only God knew how many years – managed to bring his sticklike arms to her back and cradle her in his arms like a child across his chest. It was an odd position, albeit one that obviously caused him a bit of strain. His heart hammered in her ear as he stepped out of the tub. James clutched her to his body before helping her right herself up onto her own two feet. She felt as though she should thank him. She felt but didn't speak.

Turning his back to her, James went about the business of emptying the tub. Jessie faced the door, feeling rather awkward and voyeuristic now that her plan had failed and ended so horribly, horribly wrong. Perhaps she could make it up to him tomorrow…buy him that new gadget he and Meowth had been babbling on for a few weeks over. She felt a dull ache in her heart. Perhaps not.

And then he was by her side with a grin and a black towel to rub against her matted hair. She started at the first sight of him, but calmed into his touch after he gave her an encouraging smile. The towel he dropped to the floor was colored with dots of her hair, but she couldn't even find the energy to be furious over that. Another blanket appeared, this time to hug her breasts as he played with her nipples and leaned the crown of his head onto her temple. His mouth opened and he sucked in a breath. The words – _those _words – pierced the air like a knife.

_What have I done? _she cried, going limp at the kiss to her hair. _What in God's name have I done?_

* * *

><p>Meowth frowned, marking the paper in front of him with a rather large and rather angry black 'X.' "Yah dummy. Da escape hatch gotta go over dere..."<p>

"You sure you don't want me to find you a pen, Meowth? Those crayons can't be comfortable," said James from the couch.

"Dey woik fine," said the cat, curling his tail in tightly. "Argh! Can't go dere either! Not enough room for da engines!"

A smirk passed over James's mouth and he looked down to find Jessie asleep on his lap. He placed his hand over her ear, frowning slightly.

"Sometin' ta matter?"

James sniffed, shaking his head lightly. "No...nothing. Nothing at all."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'd love to hear from you on how the writing is going. Please leave a review to let me know how you feel about it.


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